Building Safety Month is an international campaign that takes place in May to raise awareness about building safety. This campaign reinforces the need for the adoption of modern, regularly-updated building codes, and helps individuals, families and businesses understand what it takes to create safe and sustainable structures.

The 2026 campaign theme is “Built to Last” and includes these special weekly themes.

• Week 1: Safe Homes, Strong Communities (May 1–10) focuses on simple actions homeowners can take to improve safety at home
• Week 2: Voices of the Built Environment (May 11–17) spotlights building safety professionals and the roles they play in keeping communities safe
• Week 3: Prepared to Protect (May 18–24) encourages community preparedness and highlights how disaster-resilient building codes protect people and property
• Week 4: Communities Without Limits (May 25–31) showcases the importance of accessibility in building construction and design

The City of Glendale is proud to recognize May as Building Safety Month, building on more than a decade of activities to recognize Building Safety Month in Glendale.

The Glendale City Council presented a proclamation declaring May as Building Safety Month in Glendale at the City Council's May 5, 2026 meeting. Industry organization representatives, including individuals from the International Code Council (ICC) and Structural Engineers Association of Southern California (SEAOSC), and members of the Glendale Building and Fire Board of Appeals joined Building Official Ara Sargsyan and the City's building safety professionals for the presentation.

The City of Glendale has been recognizing Building Safety Month with a range of activities for more than a decade. As part of the International Code Council's kick-off for Building Safety Month 2026, Glendale Building Official Ara Sargsyan and Senior Permit Services Technician Lea Issagholian spoke to a national audience of building safety professionals on best practices for bringing building safety to the community.

Over the prior two years, the City of Glendale has hosted two industry listening session to update the community on process improvements made by the City and to hear from construction industry professionals about their priorities.

On May 13, 2025, the Building and Safety Division hosted its second annual Building Glendale Together Forum. Nearly 100 attendees participated in the forum, which invited homeowners, developers, design professionals and contractors to share their experience working with the City. Attendees also learned about the latest permit process improvements from Glendale Building Official Ara Sargsyan, who led a panel discussion with Senior Inspector Manuel Manvelyan, Senior Permit Services Technician Lynn Nagle, Building Code Specialist Chris Agus and the Fire Marshal Jovan Diaz.

For several years, the City has engaged with Glendale's schools to introduce important building safety concepts to the city's youth - a tradition that continues to this day.

In 2025, Building & Safety and Community Development Communications staff members introduce building safety month to second grade students at John Marshall Elementary and many more classrooms in Glendale with age-appropriate content. In 2026, staff will again visit schools to discuss building safety in the community.

An annual vendor fair has brought industry professionals and City staff involved in the important work of protecting our community's buildings together to provide the community an opportunity to learn about the various services and resources available to empower them to steer safety in the buildings they occupy.