National Construction Safety Team Advisory Committee 

National Institute of Standards and Technology
 

December 20, 2007 

The Honorable Bart Gordon 

Chairman 

Committee on Science and Technology 

United States House of Representatives 

Washington, D.C. 20515 

Dear Mr. Chairman: 

I am pleased to submit the 2007 Annual Report of the National Construction Safety Team Advisory 

Committee (NCSTAC) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The Committee 

serves as NIST’s advisor on implementation of the National Construction Safety Team (NCST) Act 

(P.L. 107-231) and our report reflects our views as an independent, private sector body. Because no 

new NCST investigations were undertaken in 2007, this letter constitutes our entire report for this past 

calendar year. 

The Committee met once during 2007 by public teleconference to review the progress to date on the 

Dissemination and Technical Assistance Program (DTAP) and the continuing investigation of the 

collapse of World Trade Center 7 (WTC 7), the third building included in the NIST study. At this 

meeting, the Committee also provided the opportunity to receive comments from the public on the 

content of our 2007 Report to Congress. In addition to this full Committee meeting, discussions were 

held with the individual members, in their capacity as subject-matter experts, to review the progress on 

the WTC 7 investigation. Several technical suggestions were made as well as comments on how the 

findings should be transmitted to the architectural, engineering and code bodies during those meetings. 

There was one change to the Committee membership in 2007. Dr. Kathleen Tierney, resigned from the 

NCSTAC in order to serve on the newly formed Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards 

Reduction. As reported last year, both NIST and the Chair have agreed that it would not be efficient to 

appoint new members to replace those who resigned or were not re-appointed when their terms expired 

until after the WTC investigations are completed. Committee membership can then be determined by 

the technical expertise required by any future NCST investigations that are undertaken. 

During 2007, NIST staff continued to work with various public sector Codes and Standards 

organizations and the National Institute of Building Science (NIBS) in effecting construction changes in 

the nation’s building codes and architectural and structural engineering practice groups. Eight code 

changes were adopted for the Supplement to the 2006 International Building Code. Forty-seven 

proposals for change responsive to the recommendations of the World Trade Center Investigation have 

been received by the International Code Council for consideration during the 2007/2008 code cycle. 

Similarly, 17 proposals responsive to the recommendations of the World Trade Center recommendations 

are active in the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) process and may result in changes to 

NFPA’s model codes in the next edition. 

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National Construction Safety Team Advisory Committee 

National Institute of Standards and Technology
 

The Committee continues to support full implementation of the NCST Act. Its unique features such as 

subpoena power, open communication with the engineering and architectural communities during an 

investigation rather than after it is completed and NIST’s commitment to support the development of 

improved Codes and Standards through DTAP provide a powerful public service. Although not used in 

the WTC or Station nightclub investigations (for different reasons), subpoena power provides NIST 

leverage in conducting safety team investigations where litigation or political concerns might prevent 

access to the disaster site or to necessary forensic evidence and witnesses. 

To repeat the comments made in our 2006 report, the Committee is increasingly concerned that 

recommendations made in our previous reports to Congress for permanent funding for Safety Team 

investigations has not been acted on. Once again, we re-affirm our opinion that NIST cannot effectively 

implement its role under the Act unless Congress and the Administration establish sustained annual 

support. The Committee strongly believes such sustained funding is justified given the proven impact 

and actions the private sector has undertaken as a direct result of NIST findings of the WTC Towers and 

Station nightclub investigations. We believe a greater impact will result once the WTC 7 investigation 

is completed and the information is released to Code bodies. Therefore, we once again urge Congress to 

provide needed support in FY 2008. 

Sincerely, 

Paul M. Fitzgerald, Chair 

National Construction Safety Team Advisory Committee 

Robert D. Hanson, Member 

Forman A. Williams, Member 

David S. Collins, Member 

Charles Thornton, Member 

Not Participating in the Preparation of This Report: John M. Barsom, Member 

cc: The Honorable Ralph M. Hall, Ranking Minority Member 

John Sullivan 

James Turner 

Shyam Sunder (DFO) 

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