Although over a foot of snow covered the area prior to the meetings, they were well attended and quite lively and engaging. The objective of the meeting was to identify important issues at the state and local levels and to prioritize and then discuss where NCMA could help by developing programs, products, and educational pieces for implementation at the local and state level.

In developing and approving its 2008 operating budget, the Masonry Alliance for Codes and Standards (MACS) charted an aggressive list of goals for industry-wide codes and standards efforts for the next 12 months at its meeting in Reno, Nevada January 9 and 10. The group also reviewed thousands of code change proposals submitted to the International Code Council (ICC) that could impact the use of masonry.

Affected codes include the International Building, Residential, Fire, and Energy Conservation Codes (IBC, IRC, IFC, and IECC) as well as others. The ICC will meet February 18 through March 2, 2008 to review these changes. In addition, MACS began formalizing a strategic long range plan to guide the group?EUR??,,????'???s actions in achieving specific goals over the next several years.

This strategic plan is aimed at bolstering and streamlining the masonry industry?EUR??,,????'???s activities in the ever-changing codes and standards environment.