The following recommendations are the culmination of over 2400 person hours contributed by 152 code professionals representing 58 jurisdictions in 44 meetings spanning 11 months.
In January of 1997, NCTCOG's Regional Codes Coordinating Committee, composed of building professionals from the public and private sector, directed its code review committees to review the latest editions of the model construction codes. The review committees held open meetings to consider the Codes and come to consensus on regional amendments. Many representatives from cities and the private sector participated in these meetings. Numerous local amendments obtained from a regional survey were discussed. Many of them were eventually incorporated into the attached recommendations based on their benefit to business, industry, and property owners and their promotion of public safety.
Therefore, in an effort to simplify the construction process, advance the safety of building systems, promote common code interpretation, facilitate the mobility of contractors, and reduce construction costs, the North Central Texas Council of Governments, upon the recommendation of the Regional Codes Coordinating Committee and its code review committees, encourages your jurisdiction to adopt the following model construction codes with "regional amendments":
Attached are resolutions, passed by NCTCOG's Executive Board, encouraging area jurisdictions to adopt these codes along with the attached regionally formulated amendments. For the benefit of builders and contractors, jurisdictions were also encouraged to set a regionally consistent "code effective date" of March 1, 1998. The 1999 NEC is recommended for adoption January 1, 2000.
Please note that consensus could not be reached on when automatic fire sprinklers are required because there is such a wide range in fire fighting philosophies/capabilities of cities across the region. It was decided that the best course of action was to provide an OPTION "A" and OPTION "B" in the Fire and Building Code amendments. Cities should choose one or the other.
Please note that NCTCOG recommends adopting these codes with no local amendments other than the regional amendments. The ultimate goal is regional uniformity in the model construction codes for the North Central Texas region. The members of the committees feel strongly that municipalities, contractors, architects, builders, and manufacturers will benefit from the positive economic results coming from achievement of that goal. As a follow-up measure, the NCTCOG' Regional Codes Coordinating Committee intends to submit these amendments as proposed changes during the next Code Change Cycles of the respective codes.