Navigating U.S. Plumbing Code Changes, Part 3

The Clock is Ticking — How Code Hearings Work

Code hearings are high-stakes, days-long meetings where participants have only a few minutes to get their code change approved or stop a code change. These hearings are essential in the decision-making process for updating codes involving various stakeholders who play distinct roles.

There are three types of attendees at the code hearings: code technical committee members, members of the public, and employees of the development organizations (i.e., ICC and IAPMO) who facilitate and moderate the process.

Technical committee members are volunteers selected by ICC and IAPMO from representatives of manufacturers, plumbing engineers, designers, regulators, and tradespeople. Their task is to review all the proposals received prior to the hearings and come to the meetings ready to proceed to the next stage of decision-making. This is a time-consuming process! For the April 2024 IPC hearings, technical committee members reviewed 163 proposals, and for the UPC hearings, they reviewed 344 proposals.

Members of the public also have access to all the proposals online and come to the hearing to offer testimony in support of or against a proposal. You can attend as a proponent to initiate a code change, as an opponent to stop an unfavourable one or send a representative to fulfill either of the roles. Close to one-third of the audience consists of people opposing a proposed change in the code.

No formal qualifications are required to attend a code hearing. Both proponents and opponents of proposed changes can bring additional supporters to strengthen their arguments.

With hundreds of proposals on the table, a rigid publication schedule, and hearings open to all stakeholders, the code hearings can take 10 h or longer, per day, to review all the proposals. Typically, the meetings run from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. with two 20-min breaks plus a 1-h lunch break, although some meetings have extended until midnight.

At ICC code hearings, moderators help keep the discussions on schedule. They call out proposals by number and ask the attendees for supporting or opposing testimony and rebuttals. ICC moderators change every two hours, and over three days of meetings, 12 different people fulfill this role. The committees are run by the committee chairs, who ask the members for motions upon hearing the arguments from the public.

Once the proposal is called for discussion, the clock starts ticking and the proponent has two minutes to present the supporting testimony. After the two minutes are over, the moderator asks for additional arguments in support, and then for arguments against.

Opposition is very important for the development of the code.

When the moderator calls for the opposition to speak up, those opposing the change must go to the podium to offer their arguments. (One hearing I attended had more than 8 people arguing the case, until the chair stopped it because “nothing new was being offered”.)

Finally, the moderator asks for a rebuttal of the counterarguments from the proponent and the support group.

Then, the chair asks the committee members for a motion.

Sometimes, the committee's discussion of a motion can last ten minutes, and the public can only witness it but not participate. However, committee members can call any member of the public to ask them for additional information, but these are typically “yes” or “no” questions.

Then, the committee moves on to the next change, and the process repeats. 200 to 400 times!

Code hearings are at the core of code development. They have an intense schedule and a process where the roles of participants are predefined. With lots of moving parts, it pays to understand the flow to anticipate and influence the outcome. However, the decision made at the hearing is not final, and the subsequent steps are critical to see the process to a conclusion.