In just a few days I'll be heading to Dallas for CoNEXTions 2014 - the DHI annual conference.  As I mentioned before, I'll be teaching COR140 - Using Codes and Standards Monday-Wednesday, and in late-breaking news, I'll be teaching the CE1401 Codes and Standards Update on Friday (6/27) from 1:30-4:00 p.m.  CE1401 is an online code update, but I'm going to talk about some of the recent changes live and in person.  This class is being offered for FREE as part of the conference registration (it is normally $250 for members/$350 for non-members).

I don't know about you, but I used to feel like code officials were mysterious beings...sometimes they seemed a bit unpredictable.  I think a big part of this is because the sections of the codes that we deal with on a daily basis are difficult to decipher if you are not intimately familiar with doors and hardware.

And if you decide to decorate your door this holiday season, make sure you don't create a problem with egress, fire-resistance, or accessibility!

First the good news.  When the annual DHI conference was held in Boston, I conducted a 3-hour code class for architects (I later conducted the class for our DHI chapter.).  Public speaking isn't my favorite thing to do, so when one of the attendees approached me before class started and said, "You're not REALLY going to talk for 3 HOURS about CODES, are you?", I got a little nervous.  When we conduct presentations for architects, they're typically lunch-n-learns - 1 hour max, with lunch (and cookies!) as an incentive to attend.  We get great feedback on our lunch presentations, but asking architects to sit through 3 hours of discussion on hardware and codes was a different story.  To my surprise, about 100 architects registered to attend, they actually showed up, and they stayed until the end.  I didn't lose my train of thought, pass out, have an "accident", or lose my voice, so I considered the class a success.