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 donated their copyrights in model codes to ICC in 2003 and envisioned that ICC would produce coordinated national building codes. ICC competes with other SDOs to draft model codes addressing the same subject matter; as one example, the National Fire Protection Association (“NFPA”) also creates fire safety codes. ICC’s codes have been adopted into law by jurisdictions across all fifty states, with many jurisdictions adopting multiple codes authored by ICC.

ICC prepares its model codes for a variety of reasons, including to promote the health and safety of building occupants and construction workers, to lower construction costs, and to promote the uniformity and interoperability of products in the built environment, by, for example, providing minimum requirements for manufacturers of such products to comply with. Model codes can advance these goals in various ways, such as serving as industry best practice benchmarks for designers and builders; voluntary compliance programs for sustainability, energy efficiency, and disaster resistance; and assisting with credentialing and certification of building and construction industry participants and products.

Of particular relevance here, one way that ICC advances its goals is through the adoption of its model