FEMA Says Expanded Use of International Codes Will Help Prevent Loss of Life

On June 1, 2022, the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell announced a National Initiative to Advance Building Codes, a new government-wide effort to boost national resiliency and reduce energy costs. Under the initiative, U.S. federal departments and agencies will review federal funding and financing of building construction to ensure projects follow updated model codes and provide incentives and support for communities to adopt modern building codes. In addition, members of the Mitigation Framework Leadership Group (MitFLG) will review their infrastructure grantmaking processes to ensure that they align with and support the adoption and use of current editions of the International Residential Code (IRC) and International Building Code (IBC). FEMA chairs the MitFLG, which consists of another 13 federal agencies, including the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Department of Energy (DOE), and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Structural engineering is one of those jobs where people joke, “if you see me running, try to keep up.” This may not seem dark until we experience tragedies like the recent Florida International University’s pedestrian bridge collapse or the Surfside condo collapse. In some ways, the phrase is meant to express the importance of what structural engineers do and the catastrophic consequences of failure. Fortunately, such events are exceedingly rare.

The Structural Engineering Licensure Coalition (SELC), an organization formed by the Council of American Structural Engineers (CASE), the National Council of Structural Engineers Associations (NCSEA), the Structural Engineering Institute (SEI), and the Structural Engineering Certification Board (SECB), has been advocating since 2012 for structural engineering (S.E.) licensure as a post-professional engineer (P.E.) credential in all U.S. jurisdictions. As part of that effort, SELC recently published its Vision for the Future of S.E. Licensure (the Vision), which builds on vision documents published by its parent organizations.

Affordable Housing Explained

Affordable housing is in the news more than ever before. As rising rents and harrowing rates of homelessness echo across the country, housing advocates are relieved to see the spotlight finally shine on the need for this essential community resource, but their relief is shortlived. All this attention is the result of millions of families searching for a stable place to call home. The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) estimates that there’s a shortage of 7.2 million homes. Innovative partnerships are slowly creating positive change. To build more and better housing for the people that need it most, resourceful engineers are necessary. Affordable housing building trends offer a glimpse into the sweeping social change affecting neighborhoods and how engineers can make a difference. …

• the Curriculum Survey, which canvassed colleges and universities to gauge course offerings (STRUCTURE, September 2016), and
• the Practitioner Survey, which targeted design professionals to better understand the skills necessary to enter the structural engineering profession.

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Structural Engineering Engagement and Equity (SE3) Committee Survey Results

Results of the 2016 SE3 Study discussed in Part 1 (STRUCTURE, April 2017) focused on overall career satisfaction, development, and advancement. Part 2 of this series (STRUCTURE, August 2017) focused on compensation, overtime, and the gender pay gap. This article highlights the survey findings regarding work-life balance, flexibility benefits, and caregiving. A full report that includes all the findings discussed in this series can be found at SE3project.org/full-report. …

Not a Free Pass, but a Major Step Forward

California Governor Jerry Brown recently signed into law Senate Bill 496 (SB 496) representing a major step forward in reducing the uninsurable burden of indemnity provisions and the duty to defend for most public and private contracts signed by design professionals in California. …