CONSTITUTION AND BYLAWS OF ARCHITECTS, ENGINEERS AND BUILDING OFFICIALS SECTION NATIONAL FIRE PROTECTION ASSOCIATION (Voted by membership on 5-22-02)
CONSTITUTION
Article 1. Name
1.1 The name of this Section shall be the Architects, Engineers and Building Officials Section.
Article 2. Organization
2.1 This organization is formed as a Section of the National Fire Protection Association under the provisions of Article 7, Section 7.3 of the Bylaws of the Association.
2.2 This Section shall be operated in compliance with the "Regulations for NFPA Sections" and in carrying out the objectives of this Section, the procedures and actions followed shall be consistent with the policies of the Association. The Section shall not speak for the Association and shall not incur financial obligations on behalf of the Association.
Article 3. Objective
3.1 The purpose of the Section shall be to:
3.1.1 Encourage a greater understanding of the many aspects of safety to life and property from fire and other perils in buildings among Architects and Engineers responsible for their design and Building Officials who administer and enforce legal regulations applying thereto.
3.1.2 Create an environment in which mutual understanding and cooperation among Architects, Engineers and Building Officials may be enhanced.
3.1.3 Create opportunities for leaders to emerge and attain recognition by their peers through elective office.
Article 4. Membership
4.1 Each Member or Affiliate Member of the Section shall be an individual Member of the National Fire Protection Association or shall be the otherwise qualified delegated representative of an Organization Member of the NFPA.
4.2. A Member in the Section shall be limited to persons who are engaged in the design of buildings or in the administration of building codes and regulations. Included specifically are Registered Architects and Registered Engineers principally engaged in building design, and building officials.
4.2.1 Each member of this Section shall have one vote in the affairs of the Section, said vote to be exercised personally by the member. Voting by proxy substitute, or by an employee or associate of a member shall not be permitted.
4.3. An Affiliate Member shall include persons who have interest in the building design and construction code regulation process.
4.3.2 Affiliates shall not have a vote in the affairs of the Section, but shall receive the Section Newsletter and other correspondence. They shall be encouraged to participate actively in the Section Meetings.
4.4 Eligibility of applicant membership shall be determined by the Executive Board of the Section, or by the Executive Secretary of the Section under the direction of the Executive Board.
Article 5. Meetings
5.1 There shall be an Annual Meeting of the Section held in conjunction with a regular meeting of the National Fire Protection Association for the purpose of hearing reports of officers and committees, for the election of officers and members of the Executive Board and for such other business as may come before the meeting. Notice of such meetings shall be sent to members at least 30 days in advance of the meeting, stating the business to be transacted at the meeting. No business not included in the agenda contained in the notice of the meeting may be considered except by two-thirds majority of all members present and voting.
5.2 Special meetings of the Section may be called by majority vote of the Executive Board of the Section, with notice and agenda to be given in accordance with the provisions of Section 5.1.
5.3 A quorum for the conduct of business at either an Annual Meeting or a Special Meeting of the Section shall consist of not fewer than 25 members of the Section who have been members of the Section for a period of 30 days prior to the first day of such a meeting.
5.4 Any member of the Section shall be permitted to attend any Annual Meeting or Special Meeting of the Section, but no member shall be permitted to vote whose application for membership has been approved less than 30 days prior to the first day of such a meeting.
5.5 Except as otherwise provided in this Constitution and Bylaws, or as provided in the "Regulations for NFPA Sections," Robert's Rules of Order (revised) shall govern the transaction of business at Section meetings.
5.6 The Executive Secretary of the Section shall serve as Parliamentarian at all Annual or Special Meetings of the Section. In the absence of the Executive Secretary, the Secretary shall serve as Parliamentarian.
Article 6. Officers and Executive Board
6.1 The officers of this Section shall be a Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary and Executive Secretary.
6.2 There shall be an Executive Board which shall have general charge of the affairs of the Section which shall consist of three (3) Registered Architects, three (3) Registered Professional Engineers and three (3) Building Officials elected by the membership.
6.3 The Executive Board shall elect from its membership the Chairman, Vice Chairman, and Secretary to serve a term of two years or until their successors are elected. No such elected officer shall serve more than two consecutive terms in any one such office.
6.4 Meetings of the Executive Board shall be called by the Section Chairman as is necessary for the proper conduct of business, or as requested in writing by three or more members of the Executive Board.
6.4.1 The notice of agenda of all meetings of the Executive Board shall be sent to all Board members not less than 30 days prior to the first day of such a meeting, except that in unusual circumstances requiring immediate action a voice vote of not less than two thirds of all Executive Board members shall be sufficient to call a meeting of the Board on less than 30 days notice.
6.5 A quorum for the conduct of business at an Executive Board meeting shall consist of not less than five (5) persons (not counting the Executive Secretary). The Section Chairman or the Section Vice Chairman, as well as the Section Secretary or Section Executive Secretary shall be present at all Board Meetings. Any action taken at a meeting of the Executive Board shall be subject to the approval of a majority of the entire voting membership of the Executive Board.
6.6 The Executive Secretary shall be that member of the staff of the National Fire Protection Association whose service is authorized by the President of National Fire Protection Association and who shall serve the Section without voting privileges.
6.7 Members of the Executive Board elected as such by the members of the Section at a Section Meeting, shall serve terms of two years or until their successors are elected. No such member of the Executive Board shall serve in such capacity for more than two consecutive three (3) year terms; except that the Vice Chairman if elected as Chairman, may serve 2 additional consecutive terms.
6.7.1 At the first election subsequent to the approval of these bylaws, three members of the Board shall be elected for three (3) years consisting of 1 Registered Architect, 1 Registered Professional Engineer and 1 Building Official, and three (3) for two (2) years consisting of 1 Registered Architect, 1 Registered Professional Engineer and 1 Building Official, and three (3) for one year consisting of 1 Registered Architect, 1 Registered Professional Engineer and 1 Building Official.
6.7.2 Annually thereafter, members of the Board whose terms expire shall be elected for three-year terms. The business of the Executive Board may be conducted by telephone or written poll provided the use of these means shall have the approval of the majority of the Executive Board. All such business shall be reported by the Executive Secretary and announced at the next meeting of the Executive Board.
6.8 The Executive Board may, at its discretion, from time to time form such committees as it deems necessary or desirable. Such committees have such membership, structure, tenure, power and duties as may be determined from time to time by the Executive Board.
6.9 Vacancies in the office of Chairman, Vice Chairman and Secretary, or in the membership of the Executive Board, may be temporarily filled by the Executive Board until a successor to the Executive Board is duly nominated and elected by the members of the Section and then the fully constituted Executive Board shall elect a successor to office. A vacancy in the office of Executive Secretary shall be filled by the appointment of a member of staff of the National Fire Protection Association by the President of the National Fire Protection Association.
Article 7. Amendments
7.1 Amendments to this Constitution and the following Bylaws may be proposed in writing and signed by not less than 10 Section members or may be proposed by the Executive Board, but in both cases they shall be submitted to the Executive Secretary not less than 90 days prior to the meeting of the Section at which time the proposed amendment shall be sent to every member of the Section at least 60 days prior to the date of the meeting at which the proposed amendment is to be considered.
7.2 The adoption of an amendment so proposed shall require a favorable vote by two thirds of the members present and voting, and approval by the Board of Directors of the National Fire Protection Association.
Article 8. Dissolution
8.1 The Architects, Engineers and Building Officials Section may be dissolved only by action of the Board of Directors of the National Fire Protection Association. Action may be initiated by said Board of Directors or in response to a petition from the Architects, Engineers and Building Officials Section. A petition for dissolution shall be made only at a meeting of the Section by a two-thirds vote of the members present and voting. No proposition for dissolution shall be acted upon unless written notice thereof has been given to the Executive Secretary at least 90 days prior to the meeting. A copy or summary of such proposition shall be sent to every member of the Architects, Engineers and Building Officials Section at least 60 days before the date of the next meeting at which the petition is to be voted upon.
BYLAWS
Article 1. Officers
1.1 It shall be the duty of the Chairman to preside at all meetings and to enforce all regulations relating to the administration of the Section. With the approval of the Executive Board, the Chairman shall appoint special or standing committees.
1.2 The Vice Chairman shall serve as Chairman should the Chairman not be available and shall have all the powers and prerogatives of the Chairman in his absence. The Vice Chairman shall perform such other duties as may be assigned by the Executive Board.
1.3 The Secretary shall perform such secretarial duties as are not performed by the Executive Secretary and such other duties as may be directed by the Chairman or the Executive Board. In the absence of the Executive Secretary from any meeting, the Secretary shall record the minutes of the meeting and transmit them promptly to the Executive Secretary.
1.4 The Executive Secretary shall record the proceedings of all meetings of the Section and of the Executive Board, and shall distribute summary minutes of all regular and special meetings of the Section to all members. The Executive Secretary shall conduct such correspondence and issue such notices as may be required or requested by the Chairman or Executive Board.
1.4.1 The Executive Secretary shall publish periodically, and distribute to the members bulletins, newsletters, etc., containing items of professional interest and value, recording significant developments in the affairs of the Section and its members, as authorized by the Association's Board of Directors. The Executive Secretary shall keep a register of the Section membership.
Article 2. Nominating Committee
2.1 There shall be a Nominating Committee consisting of two members elected by the members of the Section at the Annual Meeting and three members of the Executive Board appointed thereto by the Executive Board within 90 days following the Annual Meeting. The Nominating Committee shall have the duty of preparing a list of nominations for the Executive Board and elected members of the Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee shall submit this list of nominations to the Executive Secretary not less than 90 days prior to the date of the next Annual Meeting, for his submission to the members of the Section not less than 60 days prior to the next Annual Meeting. The Chairman of the Nominating Committee shall be appointed from its members by the Chairman of the Section.
2.2 Additional nominations, if received by the Executive Secretary in writing not less than 90 days prior to the Section's Annual Meeting, and signed by 30 or more members, shall be placed before the members at the Section's Annual Meeting along with the Nominating Committee's nominations.