"I am most impressed by the ability of both organizations to recognize and understand the fundamental goals of each other, and to craft the new venture so as to incorporate all of those goals," said Henry Green, president of the ICC.

"After much hard work, we have reached preliminary agreement on the basic code development processes that could enable us to jointly provide one plumbing code and one mechanical code for the country beginning in 2009."

"The synergy demonstrated during our recent meeting enabled us to develop a framework for the essential business aspects of the relationship," commented Christopher Salazar, president of IAPMO.

Both organizations emphasized that this is a tentative agreement, and that any final agreement would require resolution of a number of important implementation issues. If the remaining issues are resolved, both organizations intend to hold meetings throughout the country educating their members about the benefits of the new relationship.

Publication date: 05/15/2006