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Board Profile: Barbara Koffron
"The idea of one single family of codes nationally is very important," says Barbara Koffron. "If Phoenix had not adopted the I-Codes, it really would have made Phoenix an island as far as what the city was requiring. It would have made it very difficult for the architectural and engineering community simply because it would have been significantly different."
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Just a few blocks from baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks' Chase
Field, Code Council Board member Barbara Koffron serves as
Fire Marshal for the City of Phoenix Fire Department. In this
capacity, she is responsible for the oversight of the Special Hazards Unit,
New Construction, Plans Review and the Code Enforcement Sections.
 Koffron
joined the Phoenix Fire Department in 1978 as an administrative
aide to the Fire Marshal. She has worked for the past 29 years
focusing primarily in fire prevention and code enforcement,
working her way through the civilian ranks as a Fire Inspector,
Supervisor and Section Manager before entering her current
position as Fire Marshal in 2002.
When the current fire chief came into his position, Koffron's
duties expanded beyond the code arena. She picked up fire
investigations and community affairs, which consists of everything
from public education to media assistance to the Phoenix Fire
Network and Homeland Security. This also included an increase
in staff from 70 to 125 and an increase in deputy fire chiefs
from one to seven.
 The
fifth largest city in the country, Phoenix is dealing with
a great number of construction projects. There are currently
20 high-rise projects on the books that people are intending
to build—some seriously committed with finances in place
and some still in the creative process. The City Council just
approved a $900 million private project in downtown over Patriot's
Park which will consist of mixed-use high rises to serve as
hotels, offices and retail space. As well, Arizona State University
continues development of the Downtown Phoenix Campus and the
new Phoenix Convention Center will be completed in January
of 2009. And considering the new light rail project will begin
with the ability to transport 3,000-5,000 people per hour
and eventually up to 15,000 people per hour and a large retail
project underway in Anthem, Arizona—there's a lot going
on!
With regard to the importance of Phoenix adopting the I-Codes,
Koffron says, "The idea of one single family of codes
nationally is very important. If Phoenix had not adopted the
I-Codes, it really would have made Phoenix an island as far
as what the city was requiring. It would have made it very
difficult for the architectural and engineering community
simply because it would have been significantly different.
When you offer I-Code training, all of the communities can
sign up and take the classes together. If the state's enforcing
I-Codes and Phoenix is not, then it's more expensive, less
opportunities and you can really isolate yourself. It's one
of those things that there are economies of scale. If everybody's
doing the same thing, you get big input at the code hearings—national
input—as to why we think things should be the way they
are. You should be part of the overall community and interoperability
is important."
 Koffron
believes that resulting adoptions post Hurricanes Katrina
and Rita show that more and more people are accepting the
potential of national solutions to local problems. Koffron
says, "Having adopted the I-Codes in these areas, they're
going to see improvement over time in their communities, resilience
to disasters and improved recovery time to disasters-and it's
going to make a big difference in the future. Their children
are going to be grateful for the things that their parents
do now."
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