The International Code Council’s theme for 2016 Building Safety Month, a public safety awareness campaign celebrated in May, is “Building Codes: Driving Growth through Innovation, Resilience and Safety.”

"For the last 36 years, Building Safety Month has celebrated advances in constructing safe, sustainable, affordable and resilient structures," said ICC board of directors President Alex Olszowy, III, with the Lexington Fayette Urban County Government in Lexington, Ky. "Building to modern codes and standards provides important safety and economic benefits to communities, their businesses, schools, churches, and homes, and the people who occupy them."

During May, ICC’s 57,000-plus members, along with other professionals in the construction and design community, will conduct school assemblies, host information booths at builder supply stores, and implement proclamation signing ceremonies to increase awareness about the importance of building and remodeling to modern codes and standards.

“Building Codes: Driving Growth through Innovation, Resilience and Safety,” will be supported by weekly themes that spotlight a specific area of building safety and fire prevention:

• Week One, May 2-8, “Building Solutions for All Ages”
• Week Two, May 9-15, “The Science behind the Codes”
• Week Three, May 16-22, “Learn from the Past, Build for Tomorrow”
• Week Four, May 23-29, “Building Codes: A Smart Investment”

ICC will provide several resources to assist communities in promoting Building Safety Month, including strategies on how to set up an event, a fill-in news release, a sample proclamation, kids’ activity pages, and much more. Many resources will be available for free download and others may be purchased from the ICC Store in the near future.

Building Safety Month also offers corporate sponsorship opportunities. For sponsorship information, please contact Sara Yerkes at SYerkes@IccSafe.org.