Safety & Buildings 2008 Training Dates Established

July, 2007 marked the five-year anniversary of the State of Wisconsin's adoption of model codes to serve as the foundation for the Wisconsin Commercial Building Code. Coupled with the Safety and Buildings (S & B) division mission to educate first, then regulate, a variety of classes and one-day training sessions continue to be developed and offered. Serving both private industry which includes owners, designers and contractors as well as a variety of government agencies from municipal to S & B continues to serve as a resource in planning, developing and providing a variety of program training sessions.

A number of significant annual training sessions have been scheduled for the coming year. S & B works closely with the University of Wisconsin and the building inspector associations to provide the yearly continuing education and training cycle.

S & B, along with the four regional Building Inspector Associations, is offering Uniform Dwelling Code (one and two-family building code), Electrical Code (both residential and commercial) and Wisconsin Commercial Building Code (WCBC) Winter Training Sessions.

The Southeast Wisconsin Building Inspectors Association (SEWBIA) will host the training sessions at the Silver Spring Country Club, January 28 & 29, 2008, for commercial and residential electrical code, January 30 for uniform dwelling code and January 31 for commercial building code. More information is available on their website at (http://biasew.org).

The Northwest Building Inspectors Association (NWWBIA) follows next with commercial and residential training scheduled for February 13 and 14, followed by residential and commercial building code update sessions on February 20 and 21. The Winter Updates in the northwest region will again be held at the Holiday Inn Campus located in Eau Claire. More information on the NWWBIA can be found on their website at (http://nwbia.org).

The Northeast Wisconsin Building Inspectors Association (NEWBIA) will hold their Winter Updates February 25 – 28. The commercial and residential electrical sessions will be held on February 25 and 26. The uniform dwelling code (UDC) will be held on February 27 and the week concludes with the commercial program on February 28. The NEWBIA Winter Updates will be held at the Comfort Suites in Green Bay located on Bond Street. Specific agenda information can be found on their web site at (http://bianew.org).

The Southwest Wisconsin Building Inspectors Association (SWWBIA) will provide concentrated UDC training March 4 – 6 with electrical on March 4, UDC construction on March 5 and UDC plumbing on March 6. The SWWBIA will provide the traditional week of training March 17 – 20. Commercial electrical will be provided on the March 17, UDC electrical on the 18th followed by UDC updates on March 19 and the commercial code on March 20. The SWWBIA Winter Updates will be held at the Wintergreen Resort in Lake Delton. More information on the SWWBIA Winter Update can be found on their website at (http://swwbia.org).

Registration and program information is also available on the Department of Commerce, Safety and Building website. (http://commerce.wi.gov/SB/SB-DivContinuingEducation.html).

The University of Wisconsin-Madison Engineering Department is prepared to present the 37th Annual Wisconsin Commercial Building Code Refresher scheduled for February 18 – 20, 2008. Attendees can expect full-day sessions geared toward new users as well as topical intensives focusing on selected subjects. Health care, existing buildings, structural, fire and hazardous occupancies will be addressed. More information and registration information can be found on line at (http://epdweb.engr.wisc.edu).

Commerce continues to provide an introductory training session designed to prepare potential commercial building inspector candidates to take the certification exam as well as serve as a concentrated introductory course to the Wisconsin Commercial Building Code. Following the July 2002 revision to the Wisconsin Commercial Building Code (WCBC), which adopted the International Building Code (IBC), energy (IECC), mechanical (IMC) and fuel gas (IFGC) Commerce has established this general introductory curriculum to meet the needs of all individuals affected by the change. Designers, building owners, facility managers and fire and building officials are the focus of these sessions. Currently the course is available online at (http://commerce.wi.gov/SB/SB-EducationCBI07.html).

Originally structured to meet one day a week for a full day and run for 15 consecutive weeks, the course was videotaped in 2007; now any part can be viewed online at no cost. Currently, plans are underway to offer a blend of classroom and online training beginning in 2008. The location of the classroom sessions will be in Kronenwetter and the 2008 session is planned to begin in January. For more information please check the website. (http://commerce.wi.gov/SB/SB-DivContinuingEducation.html).

To register for any of these classes please visit Commerce's Safety and Buildings website. To inquire about, plan or schedule future classes for your organization please contact Henry Kosarzycki at 608.212.0138 or by email at Henry.Kosarzycki@wisconsin.gov.

-- Henry Kosarzycki