Annotated fire safety provisions help increase market access for U.S. suppliers

Introduction of Spanish Language Code Provisions Creates a Path Toward Future Use of International Building Code 

To ensure safety and resilience, for building projects in most jurisdictions in the United States, designers, builders, and enforcement officials rely on the International Building Code (IBC). To the extent that the IBC is accepted/used abroad, U.S. design firms, as well as manufacturers of building materials, are instantly more competitive than if projects reference something other than the IBC.  

Besides being already familiar with IBC requirements, U.S. firms already manufacture products that are IBC-compliant whereas non-U.S. goods might be made to a less-than-IBC-compliant standard. So, when another country adopts the IBC, the buildings are designed to higher standards, improving public safety and requiring the use of compliant building materials, leveling the playing field for U.S. manufacturers who are no longer forced to compete with lower quality, lower priced non-U.S. alternatives.                                          

By excerpting the fire safety design provisions from the IBC and supplementing each chapter with expert commentary – all in Spanish – the International Code Council (ICC), which publishes the IBC, has reduced the barriers to adoption of the IBC for governments in Latin America and has made it easier for designers, builders, and enforcement officials throughout Latin America to improve building design and save lives. This was a key deliverable of ICC’s Market Development Cooperator Program (MDCP) that ITA supported for five years. 

Market Potential: $3B to $584B 

ICC conceived the Spanish language IBC Essential Fire Safety Provisions – the Aspectos Esenciales de Seguridad Contra Incendios – to address a recognized need in countries and jurisdictions that may lack the resources or capacity to implement the full International Building Code (IBC) successfully, and that have prioritized fire and life safety in buildings. Jurisdictions that implement the adoption-ready language in this document can easily transition to use of the full IBC in the future.  

The fire and life safety provisions in this document can also be paired with various structural and material design standards such as those published by U.S.-domiciled international standards developers like American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the American Concrete Institute (ACI), and the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), among others. Adoption of the fire safety provisions alone would increase the likelihood of U.S. sales to the $3B Latin America market for fire safety products such as sprinkler systems. Adoption of the full IBC would further open U.S. firms to the $584B Latin American market for the full range of building products.

The strategy is already popular beyond the Spanish-speaking Americas. Officials in Brazil, Syria, and several Southeast Asian countries have expressed interest in future possible editions of the code in Portuguese, Arabic, and other languages. The commercial potential for U.S. manufacturers is huge. For Southeast Asia alone, the market for fire safety products is $34B. The broader market for all building materials here is $539B.