“Manage the Damage- Preparing for natural Disasters” will be the theme for the International Code Council’s (ICC) Building Safety Month Week Three, that runs from May 15-21.

Since founded by the ICC in 1980, Building Safety Month has been an annual public safety awareness campaign to help individuals, families and businesses understand what it takes to create safe and sustainable structures.

“This past year, our communities have really been tested by weather and other events, struggling to assess their cross-functional resilience,” said ICC Board President Dwayne Garriss, Georgia State Fire Marshal. “To help address this, the ICC has participated in the formation of the Alliance for National & Community Resilience (ANCR), a collaborative, non-profit organization dedicated to creating the nation's first whole-community resilience benchmark. ANCR and its 27 member organizations intend to give communities a quick, easy and coherent way to assess their strengths and areas for improvement to foster better community resilience.”


Also, the ICC, in cooperation with several Building Safety Month sponsors, has assembled steps to prepare your family and protect homes from natural disasters: Developing a family disaster plan that includes a list of food and water supplies needed for each member of your family and for your pets; making copies of important documents such as insurance policies, the deed to a home and other personal papers; reviewing an evacuation route and emergency shelter locations with the family; and taking shelter is critical in times of disaster.

Mitigation Efforts, such as building code adoption and enforcement, increases occupant health and safety during a disaster, protects the local tax base, ensures continuity of essential services, and supports more rapid recovery from disasters.

Building Safety Month’s previous themes have been: “Mentoring the Next Generation of Building Professionals” and “Building Design Solutions for all Ages.” The final week of Building Safety month will be dedicated to the theme of “Investing in Technology for Safety, Energy and Water Efficiency.”