WASHINGTON — The International Code Council (ICC) recently launched its first credential dedicated to the safety of code official personnel. The Code Official Safety Credential of Learning Achievement (CLA), developed in collaboration with the Code Enforcement Officer Safety Foundation (CEOSF), will educate code officials and inspectors in all disciplines with officer safety skills that set the standard in the code enforcement profession.

The Code Official Safety CLA assessment will be offered via the Code Council’s Proctored Remote Online Testing Option (PRONTO), which will verify subject matter comprehension and competency. The Code Council’s PRONTO examinations are available 24/7, scheduled up to 45 minutes in advance and utilize advanced exam security features.

The assessment will be based upon training that has been developed by CEOSF, who is an ICC Preferred Education Provider.  The Code Official Safety Specialist (COSS) training is comprised of five courses, totaling 15 hours of officer safety training. The CLA is granted to those individuals who successfully complete the five training courses and pass the Code Official Safety assessment.

“We are committed to supporting those individuals who dedicate their careers to ensuring our buildings and communities are safe,” said Dominic Sims, CBO, executive officer, Code Council. “The Code Council and CEOSF have a shared commitment to promoting the safety of code officials, and our combined efforts to develop this new CLA will provide further resources to support the profession.”

The Code Council and CEOSF joined forces in May of 2021 to expand career development resources for the safety of code officials and increase collaboration between the two organizations. Their united efforts promote best practices for the safety of code officials, providing up-to-date training that encourages the highest standard of professionalism throughout the building safety community and recognizing code enforcement professionals that have paid the highest price to protect their communities.

"Since last year, the code council and CEOSF have continued to collaborate together to improve the safety of code officials across the globe,” said Justin Edson, president, CEOSF. “This CLA sets the standard for personnel safety training in our profession. The topics covered in this training are pertinent to all code professionals, whether they work in the field or in the office. CEOSF is excited to provide important and relevant safety training for this new CLA assessment."