Instructors
Steve Thomas - Director of Education
Mr. Thomas has over forty years’ experience in working with building codes including plan reviews, inspections, and administration. Providing building code consulting services for governmental agencies and architectural firms, as well as educational seminars on building codes. He has served as the contract Building Official for local jurisdictions in Colorado. Mr. Thomas has served on several ICBO and ICC committees including serving as a member and then Chairman of the ICC Means of Egress Code Development Committee. He is also the author of the book, Building Code Basics, based on the 2009 & 2012 IBC and Building Code Essentials based on the 2015 IBC, both available from ICC. He was awarded the Educator of the Year Award by the ICC in 2018. He has presented building code classes for the last 30 years and provides an interesting and engaging look at building codes.
Jason Bullock
Jason Bullock has over 30 years of experience as a building and utilities code official across the Mountain West. He holds eight-way certification through the ICC (International Code Council) as a commercial combination inspector, as well as an ICC certified plans examiner. Jason has managed entire jurisdictions as an Acting Building Official, and is a certified a HUD (US Department of Housing and Urban Development) housing inspector. He currently serves as SCA’s Utah Regional Manager and is a member of the Utah Chapter Board of Directors, serving as the legislative coordinator across the State.
William "Bill" Clayton
William has been involved in the construction industry as a contractor and designer since the early 1970’s in Oregon, Washington and Colorado. He later became a roofing inspector in 1991 then advanced to a combination building inspector and eventually became a plans examiner in 1994. Bill was CBO of a large Colorado jurisdiction from 2007 to 2015 when he was hired away and went to work for Colorado Code Consulting as a consultant, inspector, plans examiner and instructor. Bill has 22 ICBO & ICC certifications, 4 FEMA Certifications, as well as State of Colorado 3rd Party Public School Inspector, State of California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services Safety Assessment Inspector, and certified Fire Stop Inspector. Bill is a member of the ICC IEBC 2024 code committee and remains passionate about teaching all aspects of the codes.
Cole Cloward
Cole has over nearly two decades of experience in construction and code management. His career started in Utah working as a eight-way certified building inspector across the State. He has transitioned to work in the State of Colorado, first with a jurisdiction and now through a role with SCA in Colorado. He has spent the past year preparing for a transition to take over the reins as the Colorado Regional Manager, and has been actively involved with more customer outreach related to the codes across the State, with an active involvement with the Colorado Code Chapter of ICC (CCICC), assisting with technical training and organizational goals. Cole has extensive experience in both residential and commercial building codes, being able to review, inspect or teach both.
Josh Harmon
Josh Harmon’s career in building code enforcement and government program administration spans 23 years and both local and regional organizations. He holds multiple International Code Council (ICC) certifications and designations including those of Certified Sustainability Professional and Certified Building Official. His experience in program development, administration, and the effective use of technology to support code implementation and outreach add considerable value to the SCA team and modern code compliance efforts.
Andre Jaen
Andre Jaen has over a decade of experience in the industry including experience in administration, code review, inspection and compliance. Andre is a collaborative team leader, educator and exceptional communicator with experience in day-to-day operations for building code compliance as well as related policy, code adoption, and implementation. Andre holds 29 professional certifications including Master Code Professional and Certified Building Official and is an active member of national and local professional organizations supporting code development including the ICC Sustainability Membership Council and serves on the International Code Council’s Board of Directors. Andre regularly trains and educates building plan reviewers, permit technicians and inspectors on department policies, code requirements, customer service and building plan review. Performed educational seminars for contractors, Home Builders Association, local architects and engineers.
Terry Knox
Mr. Knox has served as an inspector, plan reviewer, and Building Official for the past 50 years. He is a member of several professional organizations; has served on the International Code Council (ICC) Performance Standards Committee, Exam re-write committee, Education committee, and the California code 2000 re-write committee. He is an Honorary Member of the California Building Officials Past Presidents Association; he has been elected to the California Building Officials Hall of Fame and awarded the State of California’s highest Government award, the Helen Putnam Award for Government Efficiency. He has received numerous awards of merit for his contribution in Code Development, Served as President to the Sacramento Valley Chapter of ICC, and has received a Proclamation of Exemplary Service to the State of California by the California State Senate, assisted in the drafting and passing of the first National Response Protocol for Building Departments for Post Disaster Response. One of Terry’s most prized awards came from the United States Veterans Administration for the many outreach programs he created for the administration for the rehabilitation provide carrier opportunities for those who sacrificed so much for this great Country. From 1997 to 2004, Mr. Knox established one of the highest-rated post-secondary training institutes in the United States. During the existence of this program, the twelve weeks in-classroom programs successfully trained and placed more than 900 students with Jurisdictions and Consultants throughout North America as inspectors, plan reviewers and permit technicians. Terry has provided classes on various building code-related and government administration topics throughout his carrier.
Dean Kuenzi
Dean Kuenzi has served as a plan’s examiner in the greater Sacramento area. He was previously the Building Inspection Supervisor with El Dorado County and has served as a building inspector for several California jurisdictions. He is certified as a Master Code Professional through the ICC, with 27 ICC certifications, and has a degree in alternative energy systems with an emphasis in photovoltaics. He has served on several exam development committees including the committee for the Residential Building Inspector Certification through the ICC and the committee for developing the first Photovoltaic Inspector Certification exam through the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP).
Hope Medina
Hope Medina has been part of the “Green Team” for over a decade, but is also an ICC Certified Permit Technician, Combination Inspector and Plans Examiner. She excels in complex plan reviews, having worked at the Town of Castle Rock, and the cities of Centennial and Castle Pine North in Colorado. However, she is typically recognized as a National Instructor for energy and sustainability codes, having often been asked to be a keynote speaker for National or International events. Hope has served as the Train the Trainer for the DOE, as well as a Safety Assessment Program with the State of California, and for National Green Building Standards in various task groups or committees. Hope was awarded the Colorado Chapter ICC Presidents Award in 2012, and the Exceptional Commitment award in 2019, as well as the Green Partners of Excellence award through NGBS in 2016 and 2017. Hope is a Senior Plans Examiner and Inspector, but is an SCA leader in Energy and Sustainability requirements
Barbara Rice
Barbara has over 25 years in municipal and local government as a building official, plans examiner, fire marshal, inspector, permit technician, code enforcement and fire investigator. She has served on the board of directors for AZFMA, IAAI, AZBO. Barbara holds multiple certifications and teaches fire code and wildland-urban interface code for various ICC state Chapters, fire code organizations, and designers in Arizona, Utah, Texas, Colorado, etc. She is currently employed as the Arizona Regional Manager/Fire Service Line for Shums Coda Associates.
Jessie Sorensen
Jessie Sorensen has over a decade working for municipalities where she started as a Permit Technician and worked her way into an ICC Certified combination building inspector and commercial/residential plans examiner. Prior to joining Shums Coda Associates, Jessie worked for the International Code Council as an ICC Authorized Instructor as well as a technical writer for multiple building code support books, including authoring of the 2024 IPC Essentials and the 2024 IMC Essentials. Jessie has been a member of the Colorado Chapter of ICC, Region XI, where she served as President of The Colorado Chapter of Permit Technicians for three years and was Vice President of PermitTechNation (a national organization that supports and promotes the roles of Permit Technicians in the building industry). She has also served as a chair or member of multiple code committees within these Chapters including roles with an Education program and a Disaster Mitigation program. Jessie graduated Cum Laude with a degree in Architectural Engineering, and additional certifications in Structural and Architectural Drafting. Jessie continues to be involved with all aspects of code development, application, education and construction methods and brings this passion to the courses she instructs for the building industry.
Doug Thornburg
Doug has been actively involved in building code administration and training for the last 45 years. Most recently he served as the Vice-President and Technical Director of Products and Services for the International Code Council (ICC) where he began employment in 2004. Previously, he was in private practice as a code consultant and educator on building codes for nine years and also spent ten years with the International Conference of Building Officials (ICBO) where he served as Vice-President/Education. Doug began his career with the City of Wichita, Kansas as a building inspector, followed by that as a plans reviewer and then building codes administrator. Doug has created and presented building code seminars nationally for the last 40 years and has developed numerous educational texts and resource materials. He was presented with ICC’s inaugural Educator of the Year Award in 2008, recognizing his outstanding contributions in education and training. A graduate of Kansas State University and a registered architect, Doug has authored a variety of code-related support publications, including the IBC Illustrated Handbook and the Significant Changes to the International Building Code.