MEMORANDUM

TO:                  Mike Wildgen, City Manager          

THRU:             Debbie Van Saun, Assistant City Manager

FROM:            Victor Torres, Neighborhood Resources Director

SUBJECT:     Agenda item – Adoption of International Code set

DATE:            March 16, 2004

The Code Review Committee (CRC) completed a review of the two model building code organizations, the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) and the International Code Council (ICC).  Attached to this memorandum find an Executive Summary and the Final Report and Recommendation from the committee.  Information regarding the Code Review process and meeting schedule have been provided to the public since July, 2003 via the Neighborhood Resources Department website, publication in the Lawrence Journal World, City press releases and mass mailings.    

The Fire & Medical and Neighborhood Resources Departments support the recommendation of the Code Review Committee to adopt the ICC family of codes as described in the Final Report.

City Commission Action:   The City Commission is requested to consider approval of the recommendation to designate the following family of codes from the ICC as the base model codes for the City of Lawrence:

o International Building Code (IBC)

o International Fire Code (IFC)

o International Residential Code (IRC)

o International Mechanical Code (IMC)

o International Plumbing Code (IPC)

o International Fuel Gas Code (IFGC)

Follow-up Activity:  Per the attached flow chart, approval of the ICC family of codes will be followed by a technical review process (see step 5).  Each trade board will begin a technical review of the pertinent ICC code and existing code amendments.  A concurrent technical review of each code is estimated to require approximately 6-9 months.  After the review is completed, an ordinance will be drafted for City Commission consideration to adopt the appropriate code, as amended.

att.       Code Review Flow Chart

            CRC Final Report and Recommendation (with attachments)