FALLS CHURCH, Va. -The International Code Council (ICC) ended negotiations on a joint venture to develop a single plumbing code and single mechanical code with the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO). "Both organizations worked cooperatively in good faith to try and put this joint venture together," said Henry Green, ICC board president. "We made it clear to IAPMO from the beginning that the code development process had the potential to be a real stumbling block, and that we would seek input from our members and stakeholders before finalizing any agreement. Our entire organization has given extensive consideration to a hybrid code development process that would have satisfied IAPMO's desire to maintain ANSI [American National Standards Institute] accreditation. Ultimately, our members and stakeholders made it clear that they were unwilling to deviate from the ICC governmental consensus process, in which public officials - who have no economic interest in the outcome - determine the content of the code." Successful negotiations would have created a joint venture that strengthened both organizations by bringing the Uniform Plumbing Code and Uniform Mechanical Code into the family of codes offered by ICC, according to Green. "A successful venture also would have increased resources available for training and member services, and reduced costly code adoption struggles," said Green. "Like IAPMO, we are disappointed that we could not reach an agreement."

Publication date: 09/11/2006