Building Safety Standards: Laying the Foundations with the International Code Council

“A safe work environment is essential to running a business safely. The International Code Council is a collection of professionals who set building safety standards: building design, regulations, how to measure structural integrity. What do these standards do for today’s employees and customers? Why is building maintenance so vital to a successful business?

…In the midst of codes and regulations, the council still encounters common building safety issues. The first is detection and access control systems. For example, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors or building alarms. These essential systems notify people when there is an issue that requires them to evacuate or shelter in place. “Those are critical parts of the life safety systems of most buildings…”

Developing Building Safety Codes with International Code Council (mem-ins.com)

 

Scientific American: Building Codes Save Money and Lives

“But what building codes become law in the U.S. depends on state and local governments, resulting in a confusing patchwork. A 2020 FEMA study found that 65 percent of counties, cities and towns across the country have not adopted the most recent building codes and that 30 percent of new construction is happening in places that either have no code or have not updated theirs in 20 years.”

 

Building Codes Save Money and Lives – Scientific American

 

Longview woman helps change International Fire Code to ensure more CO alarms in public buildings after parents died in hotel

“The 2024 International Fire Code changes require detectors in new and existing buildings like hotels, motels and apartment buildings with equipment like fireplaces or gas stoves that can leak carbon monoxide, said Longview Fire Marshal Jon Dunaway.”

Longview woman helps change International Fire Code to ensure more CO alarms in public buildings after parents died in hotel | Crime and Courts | tdn.com

Updates: IFC 2024 Proposals

Overview:

The Jenkins Foundation has been actively supporting an effort to expand CO detection requirements in the 2024 International Fire Code (IFC) to include ALL commercial occupancies, both new and existing, with known CO sources.  Proposed revisions also establish common baseline requirements for detector/alarm placement within these buildings.  The current IFC requires detection only in limited locations within just a few occupancy types.

This page provides an overview of the process with linked access to the original and revised proposals, supporting documentation, hearing testimony, and voting results.  The most recent updates are posted at the top.  To view events in chronological order, scroll to the bottom to begin.

Approval of these revisions to the IFC will mark the first time CO detection has been required for all commercial occupancy types at the national/international level. Similar requirements were enacted several years ago at the state level in both New York and New Jersey (sadly, prompted by fatalities) and have proven successful, alerting to hazardous conditions before they become life-threatening.

To become effective, changes to the IFC must be adopted by individual states.  Once the 2024 edition of the IFC is published, code section revisions must then go through state level code adoption, a process that varies from state to state and can take many years.  This means it is still advised to carry your own CO alarm with you when you travel and spend time in any commercial building.

Note: The code revision process is free to participate in and is open to the public. CO detection requirements are decades behind where they need to be to adequately protect people.  We hope the success of this effort inspires and encourages participation in this process in the future, regardless of area of expertise and knowledge or skill level. Please contact us if we can help.

Updates:

 

 

IFC Public Comment Hearing – held in Pittsburgh, PA Sept 21-26, 2021

 

 

IFC Committee Action Hearing (CAH) – held via Zoom on May 2, 2021

Thank you to the following individuals for providing testimony and support in the Committee Action Hearing process:

Bob Dwyer (COSA), Jeannie Williams, Amber Williams (Jeffrey Lee Williams Foundation), Lyrysa Smith (A Normal Life: A Sister’s Odyssey Through Brain Injury), Don Johnson (The Lauren Project), Charon McNabb and NCOAA, Nikki Zellner (CO in Schools), Leslie Lienemann, Dr. Neil Hampson, Max Kipfer, Melissa Powers, Patrick Smith (REM Risk), Dr. Stephen Thom, Christopher Damm (Milwaukee School of Engineering), Ron Jordan (CPSC), Dr. Lindell Weaver, Dave Cherrone (Clay Fire Dept), Kevin Sehlmeyer (Michigan State Fire Marshal), Attorney Gordon Johnson, Richard Heller and Roger Berkowitz (Legal Sea Foods), Colline Prasad (Jenkins Foundation)

 

 

Proposals:

These two proposals seek to establish uniform baseline requirements in the International Fire Code (IFC) for CO detection in all new and existing commercial occupancies that contain fuel-burning appliances, fuel-burning fireplaces or have attached garages:

Proposal #F102-21 (IFC Section 915 New Buildings)

 

Proposal #F116-21 (IFC Section 1103.9 Existing Buildings)

 

 

Supporting Documents/Bibliography (click title for link):

CO Detection and Alarm Requirements: Literature Review, NFPA Fire Protection Research Foundation, 2021

Development of a Technical Basis for CO Detector Siting, NFPA Fire Protection Research Foundation, 2007

2020 Fire Code New York State

Diffusion of Carbon Monoxide Through Gypsum Wallboard, Neil Hampson, MD

Source Citations for Individual Revisions

Commercial Building CO Incidents, Jenkins Foundation

CO Incidents – NFIRS (National Fire Incident Reporting System) data – REM Risk

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning, Lindell Weaver, MD, 2020

Swimming Pool CO Incident Log, Jenkins Foundation

Hotel/Motel CO Incident Log, Jenkins Foundation

Hotel/Motel CO Incident Data, Jenkins Foundation

Cost of Accidental Carbon Monoxide Poisoning: A Preventable Expense, Preventive Medicine Reports, 2016

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning in Hotels and Motels: The Problem Silently Continues, Prev. Medicine Reports, 2019

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning at Hotels, Motels and Resorts, Amer. Journal of Prev. Medicine, 2007

 

NEMA – Life Fire Safety – Carbon Monoxide