Jerry R. Tepe, FAIA is a licensed architect in all the New England states (except RI) and in New York. In practice for over 30 years, he has been both a member and officer of large E/A firms and a sole practitioner. His project experience ranges from single-family dwellings to large, multi-million dollar commercial and industrial facilities. He obtained a National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) certificate in 1978 and is a graduate of the School of Architecture at Washington University in St. Louis.

Mr. Tepe has been active in the code development process through the American Institute of Architects (AIA) since actively joining the AIA Codes and Standards Committee in 1987. He served three years as a liaison to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) before becoming a liaison and code change testifier at the Building Officials and Code Administrators International (BOCA) in 1990. Since that date, he has testified and presented proposed code changes at every yearly code change hearing and annual meeting. He has served on the BOCA Code Development Committee, the BOCA Code Interpretations Committee, and the BOCA Means of Egress Code Review Committee.

With the creation of the International Code Council (ICC), his code activities switched to that forum. He participated in the initial development of the International Building Code and has served on the General/Occupancies Code Development Committee and was the Chair of that group for two years. Mr. Tepe currently is vice-chair of the International Fire Code Development Committee. He continues as one representative of the AIA at the ICC hearings and conferences. He has made numerous presentations to conference audiences on topics related to building code enforcement and interpretation issues.

Mr. Tepe has held all AIA offices at both the state level (AIANH) and the regional level (AIA New England). He has been active in the legislative process in New Hampshire to adopt the first statewide set of building codes and is the appointed representative of the Architectural Registration Board to the NH State Building Code Review Board. He has taught numerous code related issues in New Hampshire, New England and at BOCA and AIA conferences. He is a past Chair of the Building Code Board of Appeals in Concord, NH. He has also served on several other code and building related state and local committees and groups and is the past chair of the AIA Center for Building Science and Performance Knowledge Community Advisory Group.