James Lee Witt, former director of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency under President Clinton, is the new chief executive officer of the International Code Council (ICC), the ICC Board of Directors announced May 28.

Witt replaces Bob Heinrich, who saw the ICC through its transformation from three model code groups to one. The ICC combined the Building Officials and Code Administrators International, International Conference of Building Officials, and Southern Building Code Congress.

“With the inclusion of Mr. Witt as the CEO, we are confident the ICC will continue its growth as a world-class organization that is setting the standard for building safety,” said ICC President Paul Myers.

AIA reaffirms support for single code
On June 3, Witt, Myers, and ICC Vice President Anne R. VonWeller visited the AIA national component headquarters building in Washington, D.C. There to give congratulations were First Vice President Eugene C. Hopkins, FAIA; First Vice President-elect Douglas L Steidl, FAIA; Executive Vice President/CEO Norman L. Koonce, FAIA; Chief Operating Officer James Dinegar; Government Affairs Managing Director Rodney Clark; and David S. Collins, FAIA, consultant to the AIA on code issues.

“Mr. Witt’s knowledge of the construction industry and building codes, experience in local, state, and national government, and success as a manager of complex organizations such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Arkansas Office of Emergency Services prepare him well to lead ICC at this critical time in the organization’s evolution,” Koonce stated after the morning meeting with the ICC leaders.

“The creation of ICC to replace three regional code organizations was a significant achievement complementing the AIA’s long-standing policy advocating a single set of comprehensive, coordinated and contemporary codes for the built environment. A single set of codes enhances protection of public health and life safety for consumers by generating more consistent code enforcement, thereby creating a higher standard of construction. The AIA is confident that Mr. Witt will be both an effective ambassador and a strategic leader to advance the importance and reality of such a single set of codes for the United States.

“The AIA commends former ICC CEO Bob Heinrich for his service and his leadership in helping to achieve the organization’s formation. As Mr. Witt begins his tenure, the AIA again urges ICC and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) to look past previous obstacles that prevented cooperation and determine how the two organizations can work together to achieve a single family of codes.

“Without such cooperation, the AIA remains concerned that the existence of duplicate codes from ICC and NFPA will lead to continuing regulatory conflict and a ‘checkerboard’ of code enforcement, causing a nightmare for architects, engineers, building officials, legislators, contractors, fire officials, and other industry professionals as codes are implemented state by state.

“As ICC embarks on this new period in the organization's development, the AIA is hopeful that Mr. Witt’s leadership and management skills will help create opportunities for both ICC and NFPA to cooperate in support of mutual goals and philosophies that benefit the public at large. The AIA looks forward to working with Mr. Witt toward this end.”

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