Role of the Code Enforcement Official

The panel organized to pursue this task met in November 1999 and February 2000. Gerald Jones, William Tangye, and Eugene Zeller represent the MMC Board. Also participating were Ellen Gordon, Administrator of the Iowa Department of Public Defense, Emergency Management Division, Douglas Smits and Michael Gustafson representing SBCCI, Ray Sebastian and Steven Shapiro representing BOCA, and John Kelly and David Saunders representing ICBO. The final report on this effort was transmitted to FEMA in April 2000.

In the report, the panel recommended, among other things, that efforts be initiated to develop a general multihazard disaster mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery manual based on a variety of existing documents such as the Florida guide, ATC 20, FEMA 311, the BOCA hazard mitigation manual, and the ICBO disaster manual – all of which appear to have some commonalities. In the report, the MMC Board noted that it "believes the panel recommendations warrant immediate attention by FEMA and the other entities involved. An optimized code official role in the mitigation/preparedness/response/recovery process will benefit communities directly when a disaster occurs and, when conducted in conjunction with building department mitigation efforts, should, over time, lead to a decrease in disaster losses across the nation. The Board recommends that attention first be focused on the development of a general multihazard disaster mitigation and response manual and then on the development of appropriate training. The Board believes such an effort will require approximately three years and that it warrants both financial support from FEMA as well as direct involvement of FEMA personnel in partnership with a variety of private sector interests. Consideration of the remaining Panel recommendations should be integrated into the effort as appropriate; however, FEMA is strongly encouraged to do all it can to advance Recommendations 5 and 6."

In early 2001, FEMA requested a proposal for development guidance for optimizing the role of the code enforcement official in disaster mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery and for stimulating use of that guidance across the nation. During this follow-on effort, the MMC will develop a draft of the manual.

After some delay, the committee to conduct this effort has been fully established. Chairing the group is former NIBS Chair Gerald Jones. The members include MMC Board members Ron Coleman, Ann Patton, and Gene Zeller. Contributing the effort are the model code groups who are funding the travel of the following representatives: William Carigee of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi (SBCCI), Allan Fraser of NFPA, Tom Frost of BOCA, Michael Gustafson of the City of Pinellas Park, Florida (SBCCI), Jerry Mallory of Johnson County, Kansas (ICBO), Paul Myers of the City of Cincinnati, Ohio (BOCA), Eugene Novak of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (NFPA), David Saunders of Yakima County, Washington (ICBO), Steven Shapiro of the City of Hampton, Virginia (BOCA). Also serving on the committee are representatives of the National Emergency Management Agency – Robert Bezek of Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Kristin Cormier Robinson of the NEMA staff – and Ian Friedland of the Applied Technology Council, Frank Koutnik of the State of Florida, and Sarah Yerkes of the International Code Council.

The group met for the first time in January 2002 to review existing guidance, identify gaps, outline the manual, and formulate a preliminary strategy for exposing the draft manual to a broad cross section of the code enforcement and emergency management communities. A full first draft of the manual is being prepared to reflect committee deliberations and input obtained during an educational session held at the International Codes Council’s (ICC) Codes Forum in October 2002. The committee met in mid-March 2003 to review a complete draft of the guide. At this meeting, the committee provided direction concerning information to be included, methods of presentation, and supporting material to be included in appendices. A second draft was prepared and reviewed by the committee at a mid-May meeting.

The final draft of the document was submitted to the committee for review in October 2003. Several substantive comments have resulted in the need for a significant revision. Given that the task was expected to be completed earlier, it has been difficult to schedule the time for the needed revision; however, work now is under way and it is anticipated that the completely revised document that will be sent to the committee in early 2005. A representative of the International Code Council also has asked to receive a copy for review by an ICC committee in February 2005.