Masonry Magazine January 2001 Page. 74
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NFPA Starts New Building Code
On October 5, 2000, the Masonry Alliance for Codes and Standards (MACS) held its semi-annual meeting in St. Louis, MO. MACS consists of national, regional, and local masonry organizations and promotion groups to represent the masonry industry in codes and standards. Many topics were discussed concerning codes and standards, however one of the more important topics was the National Fire Protection Association's (NFPA) decision to develop a structural building code, expected to be issued in 2002. On March 3, 2000, NFPA's Board of Directors to the Standards Council provisionally approved the establishment of a project to develop a building code. The NFPA volume of building codes to compete with the newly developed International Building Code (IBC). The NFPA Building Code will round out NFPA's Consensus Codes(tm), a full set of codes and standards for the built environment.
As a basis, the NFPA code is using the Reedy Creek Improvement District Code, also called the EPCOT code, which has been used by the Disney Corporation for their design and construction requirements. The structure of this building code project is being formatted under the direction of the Building Code Technical Correlating Committees (TCC). Under the TCC, there are sixteen Technical Committees (TC) that deal with the provisions of the Code. Each TC has been assigned certain chapters of the building code to develop and maintain as the code goes through the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accreditation process. When the NFPA Building Code is complete, it will be an ANSI accredited code. The building code and the entire code set will be developed in the NFPA consensus process or an NFPA-type process, ensuring that expertise from all affected interests is reflected in its contents.
This building code would be in direct competition with the IBC, and other international codes under the direction of the International Code Council (ICC). In comparison to the current building codes outside of the Uniform Building Code (UBC), the IBC tends to be more restrictive on structural masonry. This being the case, it is imperative that MACS influences the NFPA building code to adopt the MSJC Code, a consensus document created by masonry industry experts. To ensure that the masonry industry's concerns are heard, MACS has decided that it will be an integral part of the NFPA Code development by sitting on NFPA's Structures and Construction Technical Committee. In order to represent a more unified stance by the masonry industry in the NFPA code development process, NCMA and BIA, who have existing votes on NFPA's Technical Committees, have decided to change their votes to MACS votes, which will represent a greater industry presence. MCAA is a member of MACS and will continue to ensure that the contractors' concerns are considered and implemented in this new code process. For more information about the MACS, or any other Code information, MCAA members can contact Rashod Johnson at rjohnson@masonryshowcase.com or (800) 536-2225. Information about this new code can be found at www.nfpa.org.
Habitat For Humanity/Tucson Teams With Quality Homes For Low-Income Families
Habit For Humanity/Tucson has partnered with the Arizona Masonry Guild (AMG) a statewide, non-profit trade association, to build the first set of masonry constructed Habitat homes in Tucson. It was all part of the 20th Anniversary Celebration of Habitat/Tucson held on September 16. AMG members donated labor and materials and worked with community volunteers to erect the outside walls of three new homes in Balboa Casitas, Habitat's newest development located at Balboa & Alturas Roads. A total of eleven masonry homes will be started between now and February, 2001.
Three different masonry systems were featured on September 16, including an Integra Masonry housing systems, Omni Block Dry Stack housing system and a traditional Slump Block housing system. Materials were donated by Young Block, Omni Block, AZ Block and G&W Masonry Supplies.
According to Karen Chilton, Director of Public Relations and Marketing for Habitat for Humanity/Tucson, the long-term goal of the Tucson chapter is to embrace green build concepts, in which masonry products play a large role.
"Partnering with AMG to pilot a green build program in Tucson is only natural. The organization has a history of dedicating both human and financial resources to educate the public on this important concept," said Ms. Chilton. "It is our hopes for a long and mutually beneficial relationship that eventually might set new standards for construction for other chapters nationwide."
Joan Borter, Executive Director of Arizona Masonry Guild, said that promoting sustainable building and green build concepts is an ecologically responsible option for meeting the state's housing demand and Habitat's housing needs. Masonry products are important to the green build concept because they reduce the exploitation of nature's limited resources (timber) while masonry's lasting beauty naturally enhances the wonders of our desert communities.
Canadian Construction Association Ad
The Canadian Construction Association Trade Contractors Council met on September 17th in Ottawa where members of the CCA Board of Directors approved the Council's proposed policy statement on condition precedent payment clauses in construction contracts. The Board did approve the statement and CCA now has a formal written policy in this area:
The Canadian Construction Association (CCA) opposes payment provisions in construction contracts which make the prior receipt by one party of a payment or advance from a third party a condition precedent to any payment obligation to the other contracting party.
This development is extremely important for the Council. It requires CCA to only draft, endorse or support standard documents which are free of any condition precedent clauses, commonly know as "if clauses."
The Council was also encouraged by the progress