building codes News

Using Building Codes and Property Characteristics to Keep up With 2020 Hurricane Season

This post is part of a series sponsored by CoreLogic. Though the COVID-19 pandemic is occupying most of our attention at the moment, hurricane season has begun and natural catastrophes never take a holiday. Forecasts for 2020 have projected higher …

Texas Insurance Department: New Building Codes to Strengthen Coastal Properties

Texas insurance regulators have adopted stronger building codes for homes and buildings in counties along Gulf Coast. The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) said the new construction standards apply any new building or property repairs in which the owner seeks …

FEMA Chief Urges New Culture of More Individual Responsibility for Disaster Mitigation

Americans must assume more responsibility for protecting themselves from the rising toll of natural disasters, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency warned. “Most people think, ‘I see it on TV, it’ll never happen to me — I’m not …

Solutions to Wildfires in Time of Climate Change Are Costly, Unpopular

California’s deadly wildfires have a straightforward solution, experts say: stop building homes in places that are likely to burn — and make homes that already exist in those areas a whole lot tougher. That approach, wildfire and climate policy experts …

Latest Storms May Finally Shift Focus to Disaster Mitigation by Local Communities

Hurricane Michael’s devastation could spur policymakers to better prepare vulnerable communities for the effects of climate change. The images of entire towns in Florida’s panhandle all but erased by storm surges, as well as accounts of bodies pulled from shattered …

Deadly London Tower Fire Sparks Development in U.S. of Safety Evaluation Tool

Six months after flames engulfed a London high-rise and sparked concerns about similarly-clad buildings around the world, a U.S.-based fire prevention group has developed a tool aimed at making buildings safer. The National Association of State Fire Marshals’ research foundation …

Prevalent, Discredited Building Technique Raised Mexico’s Quake Deaths: Engineers

Warm lighting would enhance the wood floors’ natural glow, the developer promised, so when all the custom lightbulbs burnt out, Anahi Abadia and her husband grudgingly drove to Home Depot to replenish supplies for their chic new flat in southern …

The Politics of Safety, Affordability and Building Codes: Viewpoint

In April, some 1,200 home builders, inspectors, architects and engineers gathered in Louisville, Kentucky, to debate the standards that should guide construction of the next wave of U.S. houses. Engineers had a seemingly unobjectionable proposal: Make roofs in coastal areas …

Obama Administration Calls for Stricter Building Codes

President Barack Obama is asking the private sector to tighten building standards to reduce losses from natural disasters after studies linked an increase in extreme weather to climate change. The administration will announce Tuesday the start of work by the …

5th Annual National Tornado Summit Turning into an International Event

With registered attendees from as far away as Nepal and as nearby as Canada, the 2016 National Tornado Summit to be held next week in Oklahoma City has become an international event. The Oklahoma Department of Insurance, one of the …