October 7th, 2021 Update: By Glenn Mathewson
Group A Public Comment Hearings:
The International Code Council Group A Public Comment Hearings concluded last week as the second to last step in the development of the 2024 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code (ISPSC) and International Wildland Urban Interface Code (IWUIC), amongst others. NADRA developed a handful of proposals for the pool code and presented them to the code development committee in March. All but one of them was recommended for approval by the committee. We submitted a public comment asking the governmental voting members to overturn the committee. Details about all this activity can be read in previous blog articles.
In order to turn over the committee recommendation of disapproval a 2/3 majority of the vote is required at the Public Comment Hearings,. We testified to our proposal and asked the membership to judge it on its merits and whether it improves on the previous edition. The Pool and Hot Tub Alliance believed it needed more modifications than what we proposed and spoke in opposition to our partial modification. We only suggested changes to the type of decks our members primarily build – elevated decks, but we are eager to continue to work with the PHTA membership to further develop this code. Our testimony concluded and the ICC membership approved our proposal with approximately 85%.
The final step is the online governmental vote taking place in October, where the ICC governmental members from across the county will include their opinion. While our proposal could still be disapproved, it would take an overwhelming opposition compared to the support from the members in attendance and is not anticipated.
August 31, 2021 Update: By Glenn Mathewson
UPDATE – 2024 International Pool and Spa Code Development:
Pool and spa installations were in hot demand last year, and in 2021 they’re a topic of code development. That’s right, this year I’ve had NADRA’s support to contribute to the creation of the 2024 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code (ISPSC), specifically section 306, Decks!
This code was first published in 2012 and since that time it’s been getting more and more attention by local and state governments. My suburb in Denver Colorado recently adopted the 2018 edition, so it was clearly time, or past time, for deck builders to speak up.
And that’s what builders did… through NADRA… through me. We submitted a handful of proposals in January to better craft this code. You can read the details here: https://www.nadra.org/blog/2024-international-pool-and-spa-code-development
After the committee hearing in March, the public had the opportunity to voice their agreement or disagreement with the committee decisions, as well as suggest modifications to any proposals. ICC published these comments in mid-august. What’s equally important to the comments made are the comments not made.
No public comments were made to our proposals that were approved by the committee, and that means they won’t be discussed further at the second hearing this September. They are essentially done. The one proposal the committee disapproved, we submitted a public comment, and we asked that decision to be turned around. We provided more details and information and a response to the committee for the governmental voters to consider when they vote this September and again during the online voting process. You can view the public comments at this link. The link to the public comments can be found here: (Ours is SP14-21.) https://www.iccsafe.org/wp-content/uploads/ISPSC-2021-Group-A-2021-Group-A-Aug-13.pdf
Only the governmental members (building inspectors and such) can make the final decision at the end of the process, as they are respected as the least bias professionals involved.
Did you know I’ll be representing NADRA next month at the hearings? I will be traveling to Pittsburgh, PA to testify on September 21st in support of our one disapproved proposal and to explain to the building officials why it is so important. We are also working on proposals for the 2024 IRC that are due next January. Next year is going to be a very busy year of hearings to develop the next edition of deck codes! Are you aware, involved, and supporting, or are you just letting others craft your future codes for you? If you are a member of NADRA & have an opinion about the 2024 IRC, be sure to reach out to the code committee by sending an email to Info@NADRA.org.
