Contemporary International Building Code
The International Building Code (IBC) is a set of uniform regulations that cover the construction and design of buildings. The IBC was designed to address these needs through model code regulations that are intended to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public.
The IBC is the result of the work of the International Code Council (ICC) which was created in 1994 when three existing regional organizations with conflicting building regulations decided to join forces to create one unified set of building regulations.
This article will explain how the current IBC came into existence, making it the sole building code in usage in North America and other parts of the world.
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BOCA
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The Building Officials and Code Administrators International, Inc. (BOCA) is a nonprofit membership association that was founded in 1915. Its membership is made up of mainly cities, towns and government agencies from nine America states and two Canadian provinces. BOCA first published its National Building Codes in 1950 which was adopted by over fifty eastern and midwestern North American cities within a year.
ICBO
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The International Conference of Building Officials (ICBO) was founded in 1922 as the Pacific Coast Building Officials Conference. ICBO was a nonprofit professional membership organization that was made up mostly of building material suppliers. In 1927, ICBO published its Uniform Building Code which was used by governments throughout the West Coast.
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SBCCI
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The Southern Building Code Congress International, Inc. (SBCCI) was founded in 1940 by a collection of city officials, fire marshals and code enforcement managers. Its Standard Building Code was widely used in the southwestern United States.
ICC
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In 1972, BOCA, ICBO and SBCCI decided that it was important for the three organizations to develop uniform model codes. To this end, they established the Council of American Building Officials (CABO), which has successfully drafted the CABO One and Two Family Dwelling Code and the CABO Model Energy Code.
In 1994, the three organizations decided to consolidate into one organization which became known as the International Code Council (ICC). Six years later, ICC published its first International Building Code.
IBC
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The IBC has been adopted and is enforced by every political subdivision throughout the United States and Canada. It is published every three years--in 2000, 2003, 2006 and 2009.
The 2009 IBC, in its beginning chapter, "Effective Use of the 2009 IBC," states that "it is beneficial to understand its arrangement and format" because it "is arranged and organized to follow sequential steps that generally occur during a plan review or inspection." And, it follows with a chart explaining this arrangement and format along with a short synopsis of each and every chapter. This can be viewed at the link below.
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