icc is looking at 4 year code cycle

huangyhg

icc is looking at 4 year code cycle
from the latest icc newsletter:
in response to member comments regarding the growth in the number of proposed code changes submitted every cycle and the time required to process them鈥?the task force on hearings committee met in palm springs to hear what members had to say on current voting practices鈥?the possibility of going to a three- or four-year code publishing cyclefff">鈥?and three-track code hearing schedule alternatives.
here's a link to the suggested proposals.  it appears that the "problem" as they see itfff"> is notfff"> that the engineers are getting overwhelmed...it's that they have to process so many more code changes these days that they need more time to squeeze all the hearings in.
how "international" is this code council, anyway?
and would this timing coincide with the presidential elections, playing further into the politics of design?  
mike mccann
mccann engineering
fwiw, i'm pretty sure aisc is going to a longer cycle also.  i *think* the next spec. and manual won't be in 2010, but a little later (2012?), so that'll be at least 5 years, if not 7, which seems like an eternity in today's code world.  
geez, i saw an aci 318-08 code in someone's office the other day.  that thing is a beast!!  it was sitting on top of an asce 7-05 and i think it was bigger!  perhaps they're racing to 2000 pages or whatever, lol.
next aisc spec is 2010.  5-year cycle.  
willis, are you sure about that?  
you could be right.  perhaps it was the manual that wasn't going to be released again.  still, 5 years isn't so bad in today's world.
i'm sure.
hokie66,
it is as international as the world series.
think we could get microsoft into a 5 or even 10 year code cycle...
1.  they might get it right
2.  we might be able to learn and understand all the changes.
keeping up with the codes is tough...especially with changes in astm, asce-7, aci, aisc, etc etc on top of the changes to the codes themselves. then for instance, astm revises a method but the codes don't adopt that specific method until the next year's go-around which helps to confuse the whole process. on top of that, it isn't really "official" until your particular state adopts the thing. i handle special inspection "stuff" for our firm (testing firm) and it's rather over-whelming keeping up with everything and re-learning on a weekly basis not to mention the huge costs of buying references. then throw in handling 5-10 big projects at any one time on top of all that is stressful to say the least.
in the past 3 years, i'm certain that i personally i purchased $2,000-3,000 worth of references (excluding astm compilations) specifically for my own bookshelf related to ibc special inspections and for si testing. and we have 20 something engineers at our particular office so we need multiple copies of some of those references. i think the codes are a great concept but the revisions should be a little more limited than they are currently. in the past 5 years, the basis for ibc has been fortified and a good standard created. now that it's created, i'd like to see the process stream lined between all the different entities (ibc, aci, astm, aisc, etc etc). they should be focusing more on complete implementation and enforcement nationwide for the next couple of years and have one big revision in 2010 or so.
that's my opinion for what it's worth.
and as with microsoft, the whole concept is starting to become more about money flow rather than the public's interest/safety. i expect such things out of microsoft because they're a coorporation. the building codes should be focusing more on the public's safety and interests rather than making tons of money just to further interject themselves in to society without the proper controls in place. again, just my opinion for what it's worth.
csd72,
i thought as much.