Students from the Warwick Area Career and Technical Center’s Construction program were honored at City Hall Tuesday for passing the International Code Council’s building code test.

All the seniors who passed the test received not only a certificate of recognition but also a fully equipped DeWalt tool belt and $150 worth of gift cards from the Rhode Island Building Association (RIBOA) and Netcoh Sales Company to begin their careers in construction.

Wayne Pimental, CBO of RIBOA, said, “Voc-tech students don’t always get a fair shake, and this is a little bit of help. We wanted to get tools in their hands.”

Currently, Pimental said building codes and how to handle them are not taught in many programs, even though it’s essential in the trades to be aware of them.

Pimental said the ICC’s test for high school students is “comparable” to the one that needs to be taken for certification.

“It’s shorter, but it is just as difficult and intense as the regular test,” he said.

Eighteen center students passed the test and 14 of them were seniors.

William McCaffrey, the voc-tech center director, said learning codes and taking the ICC test is like the “common core of construction.”

Mike Haynes, one of the instructors, said that the students work year-round learning various building codes and how to implement them before taking the test.

Warwick has one of the only programs in the state where construction students still build a full-fledged house as part of their curriculum.

“They take everything they learn and can actually implement it. It’s proof of everything they have learned,” he said.

Warwick’s program actually serves for a national model, according to William Nash the regional manager for the ICC.

Nash said, “The fact is that 50 percent of code officials will be retiring within the next 10 years. We need to replace that workforce; this is one way for us to help that.”

Mayor Avedisian was at the ceremony and said it was rewarding for him to see how excited the students got when they first received their tool belts.

“There aren’t a lot of accolades for these students, so it’s great to have their community come out and see the great work they do.”

Avedisian noted that many of Voc-tech’s students have a job after graduation because the programs there give students “the upper hand” on other graduates.

“They can exit career-ready knowing the expectations of the industry,” McCaffrey said.