Richard Brown, Managing Director of the State Building Code Council, is set to retire on January 31, 2021, after 21 years of working in state government.
A Washington native, Richard started in state service in 1999 as an architect at Washington State Parks and Recreation. He left State Parks as a capital program manager in 2017 to join the State Building Code Council (SBCC), a state agency created by the legislature to provide independent analysis and objective advice to the legislature and the Governor's Office on state building code issues. Richard oversaw the integration of the SBCC into DES’s Contracts, Procurement and Risk Management in 2018.
While at SBCC, Richard increased funding by working with DES’ Government Relations Manager Ann Larson to pass a permit fee increase for the first time since 1989. He was then able to grow the staff from two to five and update an antiquated website to help customers. He and his staff also updated 13 building codes and completed 12 significant modifications to the Washington Administrative Code (WAC).
His crowning achievement was improving transparency with the building code rulemaking process. He will miss working with the incredible staff, council members and volunteers at SBCC.
Prior to the state, Richard worked in the private sector as an architect and planner. He taught architecture and planning at North Dakota State, Temple University, Drexel University, the University of Pennsylvania and The University of Washington.
Richard plans to enjoy his retirement by his volunteering, working on his 107-year-old house in Tacoma and spending a lot more time on the Puget Sound.