This is the inaugural newsletter to the membership of the International Association of Building Officials. The organization has made great strides in the first year of our existence. In this letter I want to give you a brief summary of what we have accomplished and list some of our goals for the future.

What started out as a general conversation between a few building officials in Dallas, Texas, in May of 2010 has now become a reality. In less than a year the International Association of Building Officials has been created, complete with full legal incorporation, a board of directors, a set of bylaws, and a website. Your board of directors currently consists of: Jerry Mallory, Chairman, Kansas; Bill Duck, Vice Chairman, Georgia; Jeff Bechtold, Secretary/Treasurer, Kentucky; Gary Schenk, Washington; Steve Thomas, Colorado; and Randy Childers, Texas. One of the initial priorities in 2012 is to complete the full seating of your board of directors.

Most of our time and efforts this year was directed to the primary tasks of creating the organization. This started with creating a preliminary set of bylaws that was necessary in order to apply for the proper status with both the State of Kansas and the IRS. Just recently in the month of December we received the official notification from the IRS of our tax-exempt status.

In September of this year in Washington D.C., IABO gave a presentation to interested parties regarding the organization and its purpose. Organizations such as the National Association of Home Builders, The International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials, Building Owners and Managers Association, American Institute of Architects, and the National Institute of Building Sciences were represented. All representatives from these organizations were favorable to the creation of IABO and saw value in the creation of an association of Building Officials.

In October, we launched a new revised website with more features for viewers and members including the ability to become a member on line. Our goal is to keep this site up to date with the latest information for our members. You can visit the site at www.iaboinc.org.

We held our first face to face board meeting in Phoenix during the ICC annual conference and code development hearings. While in Phoenix we made every effort to have a high level of visibility. This included having an informational booth. We want to thank the Arizona Building Officials Association for donating a portion of their space to allow us to talk with interested parties about the mission and goals of the IABO organization.

The ICC Board of Directors invited our board to give a brief presentation to them regarding the purpose of IABO and our outlook. While it was a very brief meeting we viewed this as a first step forward in creating a positive working relationship with the ICC leadership.

Our presence was strong and well recognized at the annual business meeting of the International Code Council. Members of our Board provided leadership by successfully speaking in opposition to proposed bylaw changes that would have deleted sectional board seats. We also were well represented during election of officers and board members. Several of the candidates that IABO supported were successful in their candidacy. Those candidates included Stephen Jones for Secretary/Treasurer, Ravi Shah, Bob Boyer and Rich Truitt for director seats. We know that these individuals will represent the best interests of Building Officials in the ICC.

IABO was very visible during the development hearings on the International Green Construction Code. Our representatives testified on several changes. Our focus was to assure adoptability, credibility, and enforceability of changes being proposed. Our goal was to bring an organized voice for building officials to the code development hearings. We had several successes. As a result, representatives from the American Institute of Architects approached officers of IABO and inquired about future opportunities between the respective organizations. This has resulted in a draft agreement being submitted to AIA to present joint code changes on all the codes going forward.

We are already seeing the results of our work to date. Our main focus is to provide an organized voice for building officials at all levels of government and with all organizations and venues where building officials have an interest. We want to bring the real world issues that building officials face every day to the forefront in order to gain the recognition and resources needed to successfully execute those duties associated with our profession.

While we are already experiencing successes, we have a long way to go. There are several projects we are working on. We are attending several key meetings in order to increase our visibility. We are pursuing the appointment of our members to several high profile committees, boards and discussion groups with several key organizations at all levels of this country.

Our main goal for this year will be to continue to grow the membership of the International Association of Building Officials. This will build our financial base in order to carry out the goals and objectives of the organization. We are very excited about the potential of this organization. We hope you share this excitement and ask you to come with us as we build this organization for building officials, by building officials.