ONTARIO, Calif., and FALLS CHURCH, Va. - The International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) and the International Code Council (ICC) announced that they have reached tentative agreement on certain key elements of a venture to jointly develop one plumbing code and one mechanical code.

"I am most impressed by the ability of both organizations to recognize and understand the fundamental goals of each other, and to craft the new venture so as to incorporate all of those goals," stated Henry Green, president of the ICC. "After much hard work, we have reached preliminary agreement on the basic code development processes that could enable us to jointly provide one plumbing code and one mechanical code for the country beginning in 2009."

Christopher Salazar, president of IAPMO, remarked, "The synergy demonstrated during our recent meeting enabled us to develop a framework for the essential business aspects of the relationship. There is much more hard work in store for the work groups from each organization assigned to handle the details of the relationship; however, I am hopeful that at the end of the day, we will have produced a lasting agreement between IAPMO and the ICC."

Both organizations emphasized that this is a tentative agreement, and that any final agreement will require resolution of a number of important implementation issues. If the remaining issues are resolved, both organizations intend to hold meetings throughout the country educating their members about the benefits of the new relationship.

The International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials is the developer of the Uniform Plumbing Codeâ„¢ and Uniform Mechanical Codeâ„¢. For more information, visit www.iapmo.org.

The International Code Council is the developer of the ICC Family of Codes, including the International Mechanical Code® and International Plumbing Code®. For more information, visit www.iccsafe.org.

Publication date: 05/08/2006