NIST WTC Recommendations Are Basis for New Set of Revised Codes

Faster and more
efficient emergency evacuations from buildings—especially tall
structures—and better communications between first responders during an
emergency are among the safety improvements expected from 17 major and
far-reaching building and fire code changes approved recently by the
International Code Council (ICC) based on recommendations from the
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The
recommendations were based on NIST’s investigation of the collapses of
New York City’s World Trade Center (WTC) towers and WTC 7 on Sept. 11,
2001.

The new changes, adopted at the ICC hearings
held May 15-23, 2010, in Dallas, Texas, will be incorporated into the
2012 edition of the ICC’s I-Codes (specifically the International
Building Code, or IBC, and the International Fire Code, or IFC), a
state-of-the-art model code used as the basis for building and fire
regulations promulgated and enforced by U.S. state and local
jurisdictions. Those jurisdictions have the option of incorporating some
or all of the code’s provisions but generally adopt most provisions.

The 17 new code changes include important
safety improvements to the existing requirements for elevators in tall
buildings used during an emergency by occupants evacuating and
firefighters entering, and provisions to ensure that emergency radio
communications will effectively serve first responders throughout their
local communities.

The newly adopted code changes are the
second set adopted in the past two years by the ICC based on
recommendations from the NIST WTC investigation. Twenty-three changes
were approved in October 2008 and incorporated into the 2009 edition of
the I-Codes.

“With their adoption and reaffirmation over
two code cycles, we believe that the safety improvements stimulated by
the NIST WTC investigation are now well integrated within the mainstream
of U.S. building and fire codes,” said WTC Lead Investigator Shyam
Sunder.

Media Contact: Michael E. Newman, michael.newman@nist.gov, (301)
975-3025