5.09 - Legislation & Advocacy Team May 2026 Activity Report

The 2027 ICC Model Code Development Cycle Group A & B Governmental Consensus Vote occurred from May 8 to 22, 2026. It will take a while for the vote's outcome to be published in the form of the new 2027 edition of the model codes. Update: The preliminary voting results were published today (June 2, 2026). My review of the results revealed that AIBD's code modification proposals were not included in the consensus vote because they had already been accepted as modified. Only those proposed modifications that were still being considered at the final public hearings were part of the voting process. Our proposed modifications that were accepted in the initial hearing process are included in the 2027 edition of the model codes because they were not subsequently challenged during the public hearing in April 2026.

In addition, all of our modifications to the Florida Building Code, which mirrored those that were approved during the ICC committee meetings for its 2027 Edition, made it through the final public rulemaking process and were included in the published version of the December 31, 2026 (9th edition) of the Florida Building Code. Barring any extraordinary action, this new edition will be in effect for three years.

Steve Mickley may want to apprise the Board regarding a posting on LinkedIn by Edward Shannon, a licensed architect, and forwarded to us by AIBD member Dennis White, CPBD. In this posting, published on his website April 13, 2026, Mr. Shannon disparaged the ability for unlicensed residential designers to provide services for custom homes in Choosing the Right Design Professional. He claims that unlicensed designers usually work for lumberyards as a sales tool and have no creative design skills. Mr. Shannon’s website says he is licensed to practice architecture in Iowa and Illinois. It also says, “He operates offices in Des Moines and Spirit Lake, Iowa. His early career was spent in Chicago, however he is available for projects throughout Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan.” This means he is an unlicensed residential designer for any work in Wisconsin and Michigan.