Model Building Codes
Impact

Washington, DC - The nation's model building codes have a greater impact on the quality of construction and how structures will withstand the forces of nature than any other FEMA program. The philosophy of ensuring the quality of construction at the local level before a disaster by making the nation's model building codes adequate for all hazards has made the work of FEMA much easier, both before and after a disaster.

FEMA's experience with the model code organizations began in the early 1980's. The most significant example of FEMA's work with the building codes occurred when the International Code Council, which was formed from the three original model code organizations, attempted to develop a single International Building Code. It quickly became apparent that the existence of two sources of seismic code provisions was a serious issue that threatened to derail the entire effort.

FEMA was one of the first outside organizations to meet with the original International Code Council in 1995 to help resolve this issue. FEMA met with the relevant parties, developed a plan that would respond to most of the concerns that had been raised, and contracted and managed the Code Resource Development Committee Project. The Committee ultimately developed the provisions that were successfully balloted into the International Building Code (IBC).

This was probably one of the most critical issues facing the IBC process, and its resolution significantly improved the quality and applicability of the new IBC. FEMA's work was acknowledged in separate letters from the International Code Council and the International Conference of Building Officials.

Shortly after that process was underway, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) decided to offer their own building code to compliment their wide variety of fire and life safety standards. FEMA worked with the various committees, and FEMA's representative was given a seat on the Technical Correlating Committee, which oversees and resolves conflicts from the other developmental committees. With FEMA's involvement, the NFPA 5000 Building Code adopted the latest version of the ASCE-7 Minimum Design Loads Standards by reference and was published recently.


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State-wide,
District of Columbia

Earthquake

Quick Facts

Sector:
Public

Cost:
Amount Not Available

Primary Activity/Project:
Building Codes

Primary Funding:
National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP)