The International Code Council (ICC) published the final 2024 I-codes in the first quarter of 2023, and the results were strongly favorable to the wood products industry. AWC was successful in ensuring all significant threats were either disapproved, withdrawn, or favorably modified to address industry concerns.

In addition, a majority of AWC’s proposals were adopted, including most notably references to AWC’s updated National Design Specification® for Wood Construction and Wood Frame Construction Manual.  While AWC was unsuccessful in securing a reference to the new Fire Design Specification for Wood Construction in the 2024 I-codes, AWC has made it a priority for the 2027 code cycle, which kicked off in early 2024. AWC’s Subcommittee on Codes and Product Evaluation worked during the second half of 2023 to vet AWC’s proposed code change proposals, including the reference to the FDS, ensuring AWC could submit all industry proposals by the January 2024 deadline.

After five years of incredible work by our technical committees and staff, AWC released five new design standards and supporting documents that are all referenced in the 2024 International Code Council (ICC) 
I-codes.

• ANSI/AWC NDS-2024: National Design Specification (NDS) for Wood Construction
• 2024 NDS Supplement
• ANSI/AWC WFCM-2024: Wood Frame Construction Manual for One- and Two-Family Dwellings
• 2024 Span Tables for Joists & Rafters (STJR)
• 2024 Design Values for Joists & Rafters (DVJR)

AWC’s work in the building code development process helps assure the broad acceptance of wood products in the approved national model building codes, which set the minimum requirements for how structural systems and many other aspects of residential and commercial buildings should be designed and constructed in the U.S.

The principal building blocks of the model building code are standards, such as those recently updated and released by AWC, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology. AWC maintains an ANSI-approved consensus process where interested parties update AWC’s wood design standards, which are referenced in the building code. In essence, to properly design and build a wood structure in the United States, someone must use AWC’s design standards.

AWC also released a new fire design standard, ANSI/AWC FDS-2024: Fire Design Specification for Wood Construction, that is not yet referenced in the building codes. AWC has introduced a series of code change proposals to the 2027 ICC model code development process to add several new references to this fire design standard. This model code development process will continue for the next three years.

Following this significant effort to bring all these standards into the building codes, AWC is now poised to begin updating one of its other design standards, the Special Design Provisions for Wind and Seismic (SDPWS). One critical update will be to incorporate the results of wood structural shear wall system tests, which may become a powerful new tool for designers to meet ever-increasing seismic loading requirements if incorporated into the 2027 SDPWS (and ultimately the 2027 ICC Codes).

After a construction site fire in Charlotte, North Carolina, AWC responded by providing guidance and education to various officials and committees. In the immediate after math, AWC’s Fire Service Relations Manager Ray O’Brocki was quoted in a news piece about the fire and emphasized the importance of following fire safety codes and regulations. It was later reported that the contractor violated state fire codes by not alerting the Fire Marshal about construction, failing to have a fire inspection done and not having a stand pipe in place for a fire hose connection.

In the months following the fire, AWC’s Ken Bland participated in a meeting with the North Carolina Fire Code Revision Committee (FCRC) on the topic of construction site fire safety. The FCRC discussed, and AWC supported, a future amendment to adopt the latest edition of NFPA 241, which includes new safeguards for large buildings regardless of construction type.

Finally, because of Ray’s initial media engagement, he was included as one of two fire safety experts in a local news station’s investigative report into the fire. His appearance on WBTV reached 2 million viewers. Watch the video here.

AWC hosted the House Working Forest Caucus on the National Mall where they toured two modular mass timber buildings to discuss how wood products can provide a sustainable solution to our nation’s housing crisis. The tour was coordinated as part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Housing Innovation Summit. In addition to the tour, the members were able to hear from U.S Forest Service staff and HUD’s Affordable Housing Research & Technology team about how mass timber is helping solve economic and housing issues.

Representatives Bruce Westerman (R-AR), Derek Kilmer (D-WA), and John Rutherford (R-FL), congressional staff, and more joined AWC President & CEO Jackson Morrill in discussing how mass timber is one of the tools HUD is considering in the quest to reduce housing cost nationwide.

AWC led a coalition of seven wood product trade groups in filing extensive comments to the EPA on its proposed Plywood and Composite Wood Products (PCWP) Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT). While supporting the overall framework of the rule, AWC objected to the unnecessary limitations on wastewater systems and log vats while seeking more appropriate and limited work practices and dropping PAHs limits on biomass dryers.

The filing of our PCWP MACT rule comments is not normally viewed as a milestone and is certainly not the end of AWC’s efforts to engage in this rule making, but these comments reflect years of thoughtful engagement with EPA staff, technical experts and our members to achieve optimal results through the rule making process.

These years of effort helped to significantly shape the draft rule before it was issued for comment, ensuring that hundreds of millions of dollars of costly regulatory provisions would not be up for consideration. Moreover, it gave AWC the time and ability to submit robust comments that were well-informed and technically sound, even under the tight comment deadline provided. While EPA has made the decision to delay issuance of the rule for two additional years to allow for further notice and comment, AWC is well-positioned to continue its effective engagement to achieve optimal results for the industry.