The International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO®) last week joined other prominent industry stakeholders as a sponsor and participant of the ANSI-CIIBIS Workshop on Building and Construction Standards, Feb. 12-13, at Hotel Le Meridien in New Delhi.
The workshop, jointly organized by ANSI (American National Standards Institute), CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) Institute of Quality, and BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards), brought together experts from leading U.S. organizations — IAPMO, ASHRAE, ASME, ASTM, NFPA and UL — and key Indian groups — Ministries of Urban Development and Consumer Affairs, Indian Green Building Council, Indian Plumbing Association — to participate in technical discussions about regulations, standards, and conformity assessment activities that could significantly impact the industry.
Workshop themes included:
• U.S. and Indian landscapes for development of consensus codes and standards
• Building safety and regulation for urban development
• Consumer protection in the building sector
• Green and sustainable buildings — U.S. and Indian industry perspectives
• Importance of standards to application of environmental codes in a building environment
• Future needs in the U.S. and Indian markets
• Expanding awareness through training and education — developing skills for employment
“The India-U.S. construction industry SDO workshop was a very rewarding experience because it brought together the leading U.S. organizations, as well as representatives from the confederation of Indian industry and the Bureau of Indian Standards,” said GP Russ Chaney, IAPMO CEO. “Of particular value were the detailed discussions that ensued regarding the Uniform Plumbing Code – India (UPC-I) as a proposed BIS standard, which was widely supported by representatives of the Indian Plumbing Association, specifically Sudakaran Nair, IPA president and chairman of the World Plumbing Council, B.S.A. Narayan, convener of the plumbing provisions contained in the National Building Code of India, as well as C.S. Gupta, a member of the Indian Plumbing Skills Council. It was a beneficial two days and the outcome of the workshop will enable IAPMO India to take major strides in advancing water and sanitation provisions throughout all of India.
“Our thanks certainly go out to Joe Bhatia and Leslie McDermott of ANSI for their support, as well as Neeta Sharma, managing director of IAPMO India, and Megan Lehtonen, IAPMO vice president of International Business Development.”
For more information about IAPMO’s activities in India, direct your web browser to http://www.iapmoindia.org/.
Last modified: February 18, 2014