Building codes are critical to disaster mitigation, as well as to enabling families, communities, and businesses to bounce back from natural and man-made catastrophes. The Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS) “Rating the States” report has become an important resource for comparing the quality of these codes and of states’ enforcement of them.
Published every three years, “Rating the States” evaluates the 18 states along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, all vulnerable to catastrophic hurricanes, based on building code adoption, enforcement, and contractor licensing.
The 2021 Atlantic hurricane season is expected to be another “above-average” one.
“Damage reduction that results from the adoption and enforcement of building codes helps to keep people in their homes and businesses following a natural or manmade disaster, reduces the need for public and private disaster aid, and preserves the built environment,” IBHS writes in the most recent edition of the report. It cites research following Hurricane Charley in 2004 that found code improvements adopted in 1996 in Florida resulted in a 60 percent reduction in residential property damage claims and a 42 percent reduction in cost of claims.
Benefits of strong, uniform, well-enforced statewide codes are diverse and include:
- Giving residents a sense of security about the safety and soundness of their buildings,
- Preserving economic resources of a community and reducing post-disaster government spending,
- Protecting first responders during and after fires and other disaster events,
- Incorporating new best practices and cost efficiencies, and
- Reducing solid waste in landfills from homes that are damaged or destroyed during disasters.
In the 2021 report, no state achieved a perfect rating based on the IBHS 100-point scale, though several states received high scores, including:
- Florida (95 points)
- Virginia (94 points)
- South Carolina (92 points) and
- New Jersey (90 points).
Other states that performed well were Connecticut (89 points), Rhode Island (89 points), North Carolina (88 points), Louisiana (82 points), Massachusetts (78 points), and Maryland (78 points).
The 2021 edition also includes information from the nonprofit Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH) to support consumer awareness and response to local building codes in their area. Inspect2Protect.org offers a free building code look-up tool available to all homeowners.
“With more Americans living in harm’s way, it is even more critical for residents and communities to have the information they need to take action,” said Triple-I CEO Sean Kevelighan. “2021’s Rating the States report is essential reading for anyone who resides in a hurricane-prone state and wants a definitive assessment of its building codes.”
More information from Triple-I
Hurricane Season: More Than Just Wind and Water
Flood: Beyond Risk Transfer
Modern Building Codes Would Prevent Billions in Catastrophe Losses
California Earthquakes: How Modern Building Codes Are Making Safer, More Resilient Communities
Millions Saved in Japan by Good Engineering and Government Building Codes
