The International Code Council board of directors approved the establishment of the Labor Management Advisory Committee at its 2005 annual conference. The LMAC will promote public health, safety and welfare in the built environment by serving as an international forum for labor and management to communicate with the ICC.

The committee will advise the ICC board of directors on matters that affect the working relationship or coordination of efforts of the ICC and the building industry. Other objectives include advising the council of methods to build and improve relationships with those interested in code development, training and enforcement and to advise the board of directors on policies and programs to address issues of concern in the labor and management communities.

"This is the first time labor and management have been brought together as equals to work with a code organization," said John Gaal, LMAC chair and director of training and workforce development for the Carpenter's District Council of Greater St. Louis and Vicinity. "As representative of the building construction industry, we must stress training, standards and the accreditation process. To ensure quality, we must work with common codes and standards across the building industry."

"Being involved in the LMAC will allow our members to voice issues on building codes in a national forum and bring building codes information back to our contractors directly from the source," said Jason Fell, director of technical services for the Northern California Drywall Contractors Association and LMAC member.