June 2006 - Building Officials Seek Countywide Uniform Codes
By Mandi Harding, FCA Executive Director

“Getting all the local entities on board with the same code has been a long time coming,” said AGC Executive Vice President Steve Holloway, who emceed the Framing Contractors luncheon panel last month at Texas Station. “At this time do you see any problems arising from adopting the updated international codes uniformly? Also, anticipating that each entity adopts the same code, how do we keep interpretation among entities similar?”

Building official panelists chuckled.

Ron Lynn, who has been with Clark County’s Department of Development Services – Building Division since February of 1981 was first to respond. Lynn’s areas of expertise include special inspection, quality control and inspections administration. He has published a number of papers and articles on construction materials and quality control procedures.

“First, I would like to commend Earl Russell for taking the necessary steps of leadership in bringing us all back together. I remember in the 1980s all of us were operating on separate codes, in some cases as many as 12 years’ difference in codes. In fact, my goal is not to get only southern Nevada on board but the entire state of Nevada starting with Reno, Sparks and Douglas County.”

Russell, the newly appointed Las Vegas deputy director of Building and Safety, taking the place of retiree Ron LaBar said, “We anticipate minimal discrepancies with interpretation because we aren’t going to adopt just the same codes, but also adopt the same modifying ordinances to those codes. We have experienced a real fracture in southern Nevada with regard to the I-codes and each entity is diligent in solving it.”

Lynn added a disclaimer, “However, every time there is a code change there is an interruption in the industry. Although a lot of conflicting documentation has already been cleaned up, a word of warning to you, the 2006 IBC codes for framing standards will be what the code states; not per the amendments to the code as was the case with IBC 2000.”

Paul Curry, a plans examiner for the City of North Las Vegas served as another panelist. Curry has spent 26 years in the private-sector industrial engineering/construction industry, including the design and construction of electrical generating facilities, nuclear power plants and Department of Energy projects with Bechtel Engineering, Combustion Engineering Corp. and Southern California Edison Co.

“With respect to interpretation of the codes, the same minds will still be working together to keep all parties in concert with one another – we don’t try to work in a vacuum in North Las Vegas,” said Curry.

Manager of Inspection Services for the city of Henderson, Gregory Blackburn is responsible for all building field services as well as code enforcement. Blackburn has been with the city of Henderson for 13 years and serving as manager for the last seven. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Management as well as 14 professional certifications including Certified Building Official.

“I know the question has been posed on other industry committees in which I sit, ‘Can all the entities work together to train inspectors together?’” said Blackburn. “Not possible, it is a struggle trying to keep my individual jurisdiction’s inspectors on the same page.”

Aside from other brief comments respective to technological advances in permitting and inspections, the building officials fielded questions from the audience.

Also during the luncheon, Mike Wagner of Simpson Strong-Tie was honored as FCA’s Associate Member of the Year 2005.

Wagner was honored for his help in growing the association in size through his participation on the FCA membership committee, his willingness to be first in stepping up for sponsorships with his pocketbook open and pen ready and his overall demonstration and  desire to improve the association and its membership benefits and services. He has recently signed on as the co-chair to the FCA events committee.

Wagner was born and raised his first 18 years in Buffalo, New York. He then spent the next four years of his life on a Navy Destroyer and another year in Vietnam. During the first 11 years of his career, he managed 15 lumberyards along the coast of California, and has been employed for the past 15 years with FCA member Simpson Strong-Tie, with the last seven of those years serving in Las Vegas. For fun he rides and admires his Harley, is a quasi-expert pool shooter and an avid tuna hunter. His favorite quotes are “Nothing is impossible,” and “A man can succeed at anything even under the most difficult circumstances.”