International Code Council Wins Contract in Oman

Headquartered in Washington, DC, International Code Council provides model building codes, standards, and safety solutions to ensure safe, affordable, and sustainable communities and buildings worldwide. The International Code Council, Inc. (ICC) was preparing to bid on a tender issued by the Oman Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning to help the Ministry develop a set of building codes and related technical standards. ICC’s primary foreign competitors were the British Standards Institute (UK) and Dar Al-Handasah (Egypt). The U.S. Commercial Service (CS) of Northern Virginia had been working with ICC on a number of ongoing international projects. CS Northern Virginia encouraged ICC to apply for Advocacy Center support, which shortly thereafter resulted in an approval for Advocacy. CS Northern Virginia organized calls between ICC and the Advocacy Center, which in turn managed the case with U.S. Embassy Oman’s State Department Economic Section colleagues and developed an effective Advocacy strategy. 

As a result of U.S. Commercial Service Virginia assistance and USG Advocacy, the International Code Council, Inc. (ICC) signed a contract to provide the Sultanate of Oman’s Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning with assistance in developing a building code and set of related technical standards. ICC values the contract at $2.4 million, of which $2.0 million (83%) is expected U.S. export content, supporting an estimated 9 U.S. jobs.

“I want to thank the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA) and its U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service for the Advocacy Center support provided to us in bidding on a tender issued by the Oman Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning… ICC values the contract at $2.4 million, of which $2.0 million (83%) is expected U.S. export content, supporting an estimated 9 U.S. jobs. We appreciate ITA’s overall support over the years with various overseas projects and look forward to continuing our collaboration and assistance with entering other international markets.” - Judy Zakreski, Senior Vice President of Global Operations & Solutions, ICC