All future SNBO industry advisories and meeting notices will no longer be sent out by regular mail.  All advisories and notices will be sent via e-mail and posted to SNBO's website.

If you wish to be added to SNBO's e-mail list to receive industry advisories and meeting notices, please click here.

In recognition of the current economic circumstances in the Las Vegas region and the construction industry, the cities of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas have agreed to delay the effective date of the 2009 IECC until July 5, 2011.

In addition, Boulder City, Clark County and Mesquite have also agreed to adopt the 2009 IECC with an effective date of July 5, 2011.

To find out more about the 2009 adoption cycle in Southern Nevada, visit SNBO's Industry Advisories web page.

Clark County Development Services will host a town hall meeting on August 18 to allow citizens the opportunity to share their experiences utilizing the department's plans examination, inspection and permitting services.  Department officials want to hear what services Development Services provides well . . . and which ones it doesn't.

The town hall will take place from 4 p.m. - 6 p.m. at Development Services' 4701 W. Russell Road office.

Find out more here.

• Members receive 5% discounts on books purchased through www.snicc.org.
• Members receive free lunch at monthly chapter meetings.
• Members are the first to hear of code and legislative issues effecting the Las Vegas Valley.
• CEUs are available for attending monthly Chapter meetings.
• Members receive CEUs for participating on Chapter committees.

In a July 27 e-mail to ICC's Executive Board, ICC President Ron Lynn wrote, "I have the honor and distinct privilege to congratulate each of you for leading the Southern Nevada Chapter to a new level of excellence. Your contributions and the achievements of the entire Chapter have been recognized by the International Code Council with the distinction of being named the Chapter of the Year. I am so very proud of all the chapter has done for the community, the local Code Officials and ICC. You are truly gifted leaders."

SN-ICC President Neil Burning said it is the "commitment of our committee and member volunteers which have resulted in the Chapter's success and they should be recognized for the reward."

In order to be in the running for the Chapter of the Year Award, ICC chapters must submit an application detailing chapter activities and programs that promote ICC's goals and mission, among many other criteria, during a specified time period.  Many of the activities and programs detailed in SN-ICC's award application, such as the Toddler Swim Lessons Grant Program and SN-ICC's education programs, are mentioned below in this newsletter.

Chapter members will receive a 5% discount off ICC's member price when purchasing code books from SN-ICC's online bookstore:  http://www.snicc.org/snicc_store.html.

There is also no shipping charge for orders that are picked up at Clark County Development Services' 4701 W. Russell Road office. 

Code books available for sale through www.snicc.org include:

• 2003 ICC/ANSI - A177.1-03
• 2009 International Building code
• 2009 IBC Loose Leaf
• 2009 IBC Commentary Volume 1
• 2009 IBC Commentary Volume 2
• 2009 IECC Commentary
• 2009 International Energy Conservation Code
• 2009 International Fire code
• 2009 International Residential Code
• 2009 IRC Loose Leaf
• 2009 IRC Commentary Volume 1

Networking while enjoying lunch at a recent Chapter meeting.

The next Chapter meeting is scheduled for August 12, 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m., at Sierra Golds, 6515 S. Jones Blvd.  Meetings are open to all.  You do not have to be a member to attend.  Come and see what you're missing, and bring a friend!

A typical Chapter meeting follows this basic schedule:

• 11:30 a.m. - noon:  lunch and networking
• 12:00 p.m. - 12:30 p.m.:  business portion of the meeting
• 12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.: educational presentation worth .01 CEUs

According to Lisa Conner, Building Official for the Clark County School District, the general scope of the modernization work includes:

• HVAC/Plumbing Upgrades
• LAN Upgrades (Local Area Network)
• Roof Replacements

Contractors must go through the prequalification process in order to bid on CCSD jobs. Information about the prequalification process, as well as project bid opportunities, can be found at this link: http://ccsd.net/facilities/construction_management/cm.htm.

CCSD also posts construction jobs in the Las Vegas Review-Journal if they are greater than $100,000.

The Clark County School District's Building Department:

• Is IAS certified.
• Has 20 building inspectors and 2 plans examiners.
• Covers the entire area of Clark County which is 7910 square miles (the state of New Jersey is 7800 sq miles).
• Has 352 schools, 40 support buildings and 309,476 students.

SN-ICC Immediate Past President Mike Bouse, far right, presents a $1500 check to the Mesquite City Council in July.

SN-ICC has begun the process of distributing $1500 grants to the parks and recreation departments of each city and county government in Southern Nevada to once again provide free swimming lessons to toddlers 4 years old and younger. 

In the absence of a state law requiring all pools to have secondary barriers to further prevent toddlers from accessing the pool area, SN-ICC established this program to help reduce the occurrence of child drownings.  Drowning is the 3rd leading cause of accidental death in Southern Nevada; 28 toddlers 4 years old or younger have drowned since 2007.

SN-ICC established the following criteria for the grant award:

• The funds must be used to provide free swim lessons for toddlers 4 years of age and younger.  If there are an insufficient number of such toddlers to expend the entire $1500, then the funds can be used to provide free swim lessons to children of any age.
• Each jurisdiction receiving the grant is free to determine how best to identify the toddlers and children to receive the free swim lessons.
• The grant check must be presented at the jurisdictions regularly scheduled city council or county commission meeting.
• After the grant money is spent, the parks and recreation department must submit a letter to SN-ICC President Neil Burning summarizing how many children received free swim lessons.

This year represents the second in which the Chapter has given $1500 grants to each Southern Nevada jurisdiction through the Toddler Swim Lessons Grant Program. Find out more about this grant program here.

By Nick Moriarty

As a designer or AHJ within the construction industry, it is important to be aware of the latest changes to building codes. Every three years, the International Code Council (ICC) publishes the latest edition of the model construction codes, such as the International Building Code (IBC). Similarly, the International Association of Plumbing and Mechancial Officials (IAPMO) publishes the latest edition of the Uniform Plumbing Code and Uniform Mechanical Code on the same three-year cycle. Once the latest editions of the model codes are published, the Southern Nevada jurisdictions go through the process of adopting them in our local community. However, the process involves more than simply adopting the new codes. A significant amount of work occurs behind the scenes in order to cater the new codes to Southern Nevada's unique conditions.

In the spring of 2009, local Code officials, engineers, architects and contractors began the process of reviewing the 2009 editions of the ICC and IAPMO codes in an effort to transition from the currently adopted 2006 codes. The Southern Nevada Building Officials (SNBO) formed technical committees and tasked them with the development of Southern Nevada amendments to the codes. There were several committees formed in order to allocate appropriate representation to each committee. There was a General IBC Committee, a Fire and Life Safety Committee, Structural Committee, IECC Committee, IRC Committee, Swimming Pool Code Committee, and a UPC/UMC Committee. Representatives from local jurisdictions and industry comprised each committee; all had the end goal of developing a consensus set of amendments.

Each of the committees met on a weekly basis to go over certain sections of the applicable codes that they were tasked with reviewing. For example, the General IBC Committee was tasked with reviewing and amending the IBC Chapters 1-6, 10-13, 24-35 (not including Chapter 26 for plastics, which was reviewed by the Fire and Life Safety Committee), and Appendices A through I and K. Each meeting was broken down to go over certain chapters or sections of the code such that all members of the committee would have the ability to bring forward potential amendments to the code. During the weekly meeting, a member could bring their proposal to the table, have discussion and ultimately bring it to a vote. Voting was limited to a designated representative from each of the local jurisdictions (Clark County, Henderson, City of Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Pahrump, Mesquite, Boulder City and Clark County School District), plus three designated members from industry.

Upon submission of a proposed code amendment, the voting members of the committee would each cast a vote with simple majority rule as to whether or not it would pass. If an amendment was passed by the technical committee, it would become part of the amendment package to be submitted to the SNBO Steering Committee, which is responsible for coordinating the activities of SNBO's various standing, special and ad-hoc committees. If an amendment was not passed by the technical committee, the proponent could amend their proposal and bring it back to be reconsidered at a later meeting. The process allowed those involved in industry to propose any changes to the codes that they felt were necessary. However, SNBO member jurisdictions were required to limit local amendments to the national model codes to the following criteria:

• Amendments required to address local topographic conditions
• Amendments required to address local geologic conditions
• Amendments required to address local climatic conditions
• Amendments required to address special uses and occupancies
• Amendments required to correlate the provisions of a given national model code with other national model codes or prevailing state laws

The next time SNBO will be tasked with updating the local amendments will be in early 2012 when the latest edition of the model codes gets published. If you'd like to be involved in the code adoption process, it is open to anyone willing to be a part of the process. We welcome you to contact your local building department or the SN-ICC for more information.

Mary Venable 
Mary is an architect, RESNET/BPI energy auditor and LEED AP.  She is a partner in SolarEnvi, an energy auditing company that has been performing energy audits for the city of Las Vegas and the Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority. She has been working in architecture in Southern Nevada since 1990, doing mostly commercial and retail projects, including a LEED Silver shopping center. She has been a member of ICC for about 4 years, loves building code issues and is glad to be part of SN-ICC.