§7301 National Construction Safety Teams

Summary

The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology may create National Construction Safety Teams to go to places where one or more buildings failed and many people died or there was a big risk that many could die. The Teams must figure out the likely technical causes of the failure, look at how evacuation and emergency response worked, recommend needed changes to building standards and codes, and suggest research or other actions to make buildings and evacuations safer. As much as possible, the Director must set up and send a Team within 48 hours after such an event and must quickly announce each Team in the Federal Register. Not later than 3 months after October 1, 2002, the Director, working with the U.S. Fire Administration and other federal agencies, must write and publish procedures (and update them as needed) for creating and sending Teams. Those procedures must cover things like conflicts of interest, when to deploy a Team, team size, how information and evidence are handled, notice of inspection authority and other legal compliance, extra resources Teams may need, coordination with search-and-rescue and with federal, state, and local research or investigations (including earthquake research), regular public briefings, and other issues the Director finds appropriate. The Director must publish the final procedures and any updates in the Federal Register. Director: head of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Team: a National Construction Safety Team that investigates building failures.