Anyone who thought the fight was over after this vote is/was delusional
IMHO. This is nothing more than the FIRST assault. There will be more.
You will see this escalate assuming those against lose. You will see
proposals for the next cycle to remove. You will see them use their might
($) to remove it from code. Don't be surprise to see efforts in COURT and
at legislative bodies. This is the way America works today. He with the
most money and time wins in the long run.
Also remember the voting membership is supposed to be gov't officials in the
ICC process. When I worked for St. Paul, MN the FD and the BO's were
considered 2 different organizations with potentially equal vote based on
population served. But the reality is the BO's could afford to send more
people. BO's take in money FD's spend money. NFPA is by whoever can afford
to show up. Yes they try to balance between different interest groups in
the committee actions but not the floor votes.
I saw this last week in a local email group this was my response:
You can forward this back to FMAM or to anyone else with influence.
"If you are concerned that the system actually worked and is now being
subverted by those who are not in favor of the outcome, please stay
informed, be ready to defend the process and consider sending an e-mail to
the ICC President with your thoughts." - Jeffrey G. Schadegg
This has already happened once in the great residential fire sprinkler
debate. Insert some great quote about history repeating itself. Go back to
supplementary editions of the 2000 ed. of the IFC where MN and FMAM was
successful with IFC 903.2.7. The intent was this would apply to all R's
including single family homes. After the dust settled the ICC came up with
the famous ruling the IFC applied to SFH in all issues EXCEPT when it came
to fire sprinklers. This logic is still not codified in the IFC as I read
it.
To use bold words, I believe to this day the home builders lobby back then
had enough political pull to get this ruling and things were done behind
closed doors to avoid further turmoil in the code industry. Remember this
was also the time of the tenuous merging of the 3 building code
organizations and NFPA. And we know what NFPA and the Western Chief's did.
The fire service was even more of an unwanted step-child then. I believe
the ICC put politics ahead of the code process. I can't prove it but at the
time I spoke to a lot of people including ICC board members and heard the
same lame story and not a single justifiable or even unjustifiable reason
for this illogical ruling. When different people say the exact same thing
it's called reading the talking points memo and not an opinion or reasoning.
The only thing in the pro-sprinkler lobby favor these days is the fact there
is more of them and the political lopsidedness of the home builders vs. fire
service has shrunk. The home builders still are massively better organized
and funded but the gap is smaller. Perhaps now we have enough people to
keep history from repeating. We didn't 8 years ago.
Do not underestimate the power of the dark side. Do not put it past the home
builders to go to court. Or worse to state or federal legislative bodies.
The least threatening thing at this point is the ICC. I believe we can win
there. We will do well at the local level. But in the political process at
the state and federal level I don't like our chances. The fight is on as
Jeff said be ready to defend and not just with the ICC board. It won't end
at the ICC.
The opinions expressed are mine and do not represent any organization. I
cannot prove what happened and when. Views are my opinion of what happened
from my point of view and are not an indictment or accusation of any
wrongdoing or appearance of wrongdoing.
Chris Cahill, P.E.
Fire Protection Engineer
Sentry Fire Protection, Inc.
763-658-4483
763-658-4921 fax
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Mail: P.O. Box 69
Waverly, MN 55390
Location: 4439 Hwy 12 SW
Waverly, MN 55390
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