The State Building Code Council executive committee approved adding Joshua Mergans to the International Residential Code (IRC) technical advisory tag and discussed five additional applications and website updates during its March 7, 2025, meeting.

The committee considered five new applications submitted since the council's last appointments sheet. Staff reported an application from Joshua Mergans to serve as the primary structural engineer on the IRC tag and recommended his appointment. Other applicants included Sherry Newbold (architect), Mike Messer (county fire official) for the single-exit/multiplex housing tag, Jared Harms (fire marshal) and Greg Rogers (fire chief) for Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) and fire-code tags, and Jonathan Goldsmith (general-public subject-matter expert) for an alternate seat. Staff also said it is working to update the technical advisory group pages on the council website and to post the full roster and tag pages on the 2024 code adoption cycle tab.

Committee members discussed matching applicants to open seats, the difficulty recruiting volunteers for some positions, and outreach to state agencies such as the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Assistant deputy official for Spokane (name given in meeting) recommended considering applicants with emergency-management backgrounds for certain seats and suggested allowing some flexibility in filling seats to ensure enough participation. Staff announced a new hire, Brandon Groat, who will assist with UPC and WUI work and will be introduced at the March council meeting.

The committee voted to add Joshua Mergans to the IRC tag; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. For other applicants the committee recommended advancing them to the full council for final consideration and asked staff to continue outreach to prospective applicants, tag chairs, and relevant agencies.

The committee agreed to present these recommendations to the full council in two weeks so the full council can review chair recommendations and finalize roster decisions. Staff said it will continue collecting applications and update the tag roster display on the website.