Building Codes
It is essential to be informed about the building codes adopted by your community for several reasons:
- Safety and Structural Integrity: Building codes are designed to ensure the safety and structural integrity of buildings. Knowing and adhering to these codes helps protect individuals and property from potential hazards during natural disasters or emergencies.
- Community Standards: Building codes contribute to maintaining a consistent and desirable aesthetic within a community. Adherence to these standards helps create neighborhoods that are visually cohesive and well-maintained.
- Risk Mitigation: Building codes are frequently updated to incorporate lessons learned from past events, technological advancements, and changes in environmental conditions. Staying informed about these updates helps mitigate risks associated with emerging threats or vulnerabilities.
- Community Resilience: A community that collectively follows and enforces building codes is more likely to be resilient in the face of natural disasters. Well-constructed and code-compliant structures contribute to the overall resilience of the community’s infrastructure.
The National Institute of Building Sciences reports that the adoption of
hazard resistant building codes saves communities $11 per $1 invested.
In 2022, officials from the White House, FEMA, state and local government, and private sector entities announced the National Initiative to Advance Building Codes. The initiative provided incentives and support for communities to adopt modern building codes.
FEMA also announced its Building Codes Strategy . To help with these efforts, FEMA published the Building Codes Adoption Playbook for Authorities Having Jurisdiction[EW2] which is intended for officials interested in increasing community resilience and reducing loss from natural hazards by adopting the latest editions of model building codes. The Playbook equips officials with background and language to help educate decision-makers and constituents on the benefits of adopting and enforcing the latest building code editions. In addition, the publication provides general steps to help navigate the code adoption process and informs about FEMA grants available to support building code adoption and enforcement activities.
FEMA has also made updates to the National Risk Index, including new data and information to improve the user experience and risk knowledge about floods, hurricanes, and earthquakes. These changes will help inform the community’s decision-making as they create hazard mitigation plans and select resilience-related projects. All these resources were made in hopes that they would help to protect communities and individuals from disasters in the future.
Protecting Communities AND Saving Money: The Case for Adopting Building Codes[EW3]
Building Code Playbook Video Series
The Building Code Playbook Video Series offers a more in-depth look at topics covered in the Building Codes Adoption Playbook for Authorities Having Jurisdiction [EW4] to help communities learn more about building codes and how they can improve their natural hazard resilience.
The video series provides guidance to Authorities Having Jurisdiction who are considering adoption of the most current model building codes to mitigate damage and loss caused by future natural hazards. By adapting the playbook into a video series, FEMA will be able to better provide general knowledge on the importance of building codes, steps to adopt and enforce them, information on FEMA grants and references to additional resources.
FEMA Study Highlights Benefits of Adopting Higher Building Code Standards
FEMA completed a four-phase study on the effects of adopting and enforcing building codes in communities. The FEMA Building Codes Save: A Nationwide Study calculates losses from three types of natural hazards (earthquakes, flooding, and hurricane winds) for each state and Washington, D.C.
Building Codes Save: A Nationwide Study on Loss Prevention
FEMA released the Building Codes Save: A Nationwide Study [EW5] which highlights and uses big data to show the benefits of constructing buildings at a higher building code standard for natural disasters such as wind, floods and seismic activity. FEMA found that 18.1 million buildings constructed in the United States with high building code standards save the nation about $1.6 billion annually.
This study uses newly available nationwide data on actual buildings and jurisdictional building code adoption to provide a quantitative understanding of the impact of adopting the International Codes (I-Codes) introduced in 2000. Buildings that adopted the I-Code standards demonstrated reduced damage, resulting in savings to building owners, insurers, the community at large and to the nation.
These savings represent the cumulative losses avoided from property damage associated with using the I-Codes or similar building codes during floods, hurricanes, and earthquakes. FEMA projects that, by the year 2040, the annual savings nationwide will grow to around $3.2 billion. This adds up to $132 billion in total losses avoided from 2000 to 2040.
With projected savings and losses avoided, these dollar values represent considerable financial reasons for communities to proactively adopt and enforce hazard-resistant building codes. The study’s results fully support FEMA’s mission to help people prepare for, mitigate, respond to, and recover from natural hazards, specifically through programs and efforts that promote using hazard-resistant building codes.
Building Codes Save: A Nationwide Study of Loss Prevention Fact Sheet[EW6]
ISO Building Codes
KAMM’s Building Code Effectiveness Grading Schedule (BCEGS) information document[EW7]
Hazard Mitigation Building Codes, Laws, Regulations & Policies
Building codes specify the minimum design and construction requirements to safeguard the health, safety, and welfare of both building occupants and the public.
FEMA’s Building Code Resources page contains documents summarizing the International Codes’ hazard-resistant provisions in the building codes for property owners, engineers and design professionals, building codes officials, and the general public. These resources are divided by natural hazards and address earthquakes, flood, and wind (including information on hurricanes and tornado shelters).
Building Codes Toolkit
The FEMA Building Codes Toolkit [EW8] provides guidance to help property owners understand building codes. The Building Codes Toolkit provides basic guidance and easy-to-use tools to help property owners understand building codes and the basic processes and standards associated with proper design, permitting, construction, and mitigation. Historically, details of the building codes, how they are implemented, and their value to overall community planning and disaster resilience have only been understood by the technical community (i.e., engineers, architects, building codes officials, etc.). FEMA recognizes that it is also equally important for the property owners to learn building codes and how their investment in proper construction ultimately protects their property and their occupants.
How Strong is Your Home/Building Code? Get a building code comparison to determine how resilient your home may be and how you can improve it.
Resilient Building Codes Toolkit Resource
HUD has a webpage dedicated to Resilient Building Codes.
Building codes underpin the key health and safety aspects of our built environment. They are a combination of operational expectations and physical requirements, with variations in interpretation and application based on geographies. They are governed at the state and local level but nearly always reference international and national codes and standards. Climate change is a new risk that is not commonly addressed in existing codes and standards.
As Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) and CDBG Mitigation (MIT) grantees look to build back from disasters in more resilient ways and seek to mitigate damage from future hazards, understanding the role building codes can play in meeting their goals should not be underestimated. The Resilient Building Codes Toolkit [EW9] and Webinar Series are meant to guide the reader to determine what steps make the most sense for their communities to pursue to achieve resilience.
On the resource page:
The webinar series recordings:
· Making the Business Case
· A Practitioner’s Guide
· Action at the Community Level
Resilient Codes Toolkit [EW10]
Building Science & Building Code Resources
Engineering Data Fact Sheet
While the project type determines the specific engineering data requirements, typical engineering data needed is included in this fact sheet and divided into a variety of project types. The Fact sheet outlines Drainage projects, Elevation projects, Building elevations and Wind retrofit projects.
Engineering Data Fact Sheet[EW11]
While the project type determines the specific engineering data requirements, typical engineering data needed is included in this fact sheet and divided into a variety of project types. The Fact sheet outlines drainage projects, elevation projects, and wind retrofit projects.
FEMA P-2420 Building Code Communication Pocket Guide
This guide provides clear and actionable messaging to help community officials advocate for stronger and safer building codes. Inside, you will find communication strategies that bridge the gap between technical information and community concerns, empowering you to engage effectively with your community and foster meaningful conversations.
By linking the significance of building codes to key areas such as homes, businesses, schools, and critical facilities, you can effectively convey their importance in a way that is easily understood. This guide offers practical messaging to engage diverse audiences, dispel myths, and foster understanding, ultimately inspiring action toward disaster risk reduction and enhancing your community’s resilience.
FEMA’s P-2420 Building Code Communication Pocket Guide [EW12]
FEMA Releases Resource for the Wind Resistant Provisions of the 2021 International Code
The provisions of the International Codes aim to ensure that structures can adequately resist wind forces. FEMA has contributed to the development of the International Codes since the first edition was published in 2000, up to and including the latest 2021 edition.
FEMA published a resource that summarizes the wind resistant provisions of the 2021 International Codes. These documents provide guidance on the wind resistant provisions in the building codes for property owners, engineers, design professionals, building codes officials and the public.
A compilation of the wind resistant provisions for the 2021 International Existing Building Code [EW13]
For more of FEMA’s wind resistant building code resources, visit Building Code Documents
The 2024 Building Codes Adoption Tracking (BCAT) Regional Reports
FEMA develops the BCAT Regional Reports to provide the nation with an overview of the natural hazard-resistant building code adoption status in each state and territory within a FEMA region.
The BCAT Reports show an annual percentage of communities adopting natural hazard-resistant building codes in high-risk flood, damaging wind, hurricane wind, tornado and seismic areas.
States and territories are categorized as either “Higher Resistance,” “Moderate Resistance,” or “Lower Resistance,” and a summary of significant building code adoption information is provided.
Read the Overview for more information.[EW14]
Download your FEMA Region report:
Region 1: Connecticut | Maine | Massachusetts | New Hampshire | Rhode Island | Vermont[EW15]
Region 2: New Jersey | New York | Puerto Rico | Virgin Islands[EW16]
Region 3: Delaware | Maryland | Pennsylvania | Virginia | District of Columbia | West Virginia[EW17]
Region 4: Alabama | Florida | Georgia | Kentucky | Mississippi | North Carolina | South Carolina | Tennessee[EW18]
Region 5: Illinois | Indiana | Michigan | Minnesota | Ohio | Wisconsin[EW19]
Region 6: Arkansas | Louisiana | New Mexico | Oklahoma | Texas[EW20]
Region 7: Iowa | Kansas | Missouri | Nebraska[EW21]
Region 8: Colorado | Montana | North Dakota | South Dakota | Utah | Wyoming[EW22]
Region 9: Arizona | California | Hawaii | Nevada | Guam | American Samoa | Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands | Republic of Marshall Islands | Federated States of Micronesia[EW23]
Region 10: Alaska | Idaho | Oregon | Washington[EW24]
Or download them all at the FEMA Building Science Resources page.
What’s next?
While FEMA releases these eleven reports annually, the National Building Code Adoption Tracking Portal allows users to click on any incorporated jurisdiction or search for any census-recognized jurisdiction to view specific data for that jurisdiction’s building and residential code adoption.
You can find data and notes on:
- The building codes status of jurisdictions
- Which hazard risks (flood, hurricane wind, damaging wind, tornado, and seismic) are present?
- Which states have mutual agreements? Users can view interstate and intrastate mutual aid layers to review a state or territory’s mutual aid laws.
For Children
Building Codes Activity Book[EW25] helps children learn more about how building codes help protect our communities against natural hazards. By using natural hazard-resistant building codes, communities are better prepared for events such as earthquakes, storms, floods, or fires.
Children’s Building Codes Activity Sheet – Winter Edition
FEMA’s Building Science Branch (BSB) introduced the Building Codes Activity Sheet: Winter Edition[EW26] to educate children on the role building codes play in safeguarding our communities. By incorporating building codes into a fun fort-building activity, the kids work together to ensure their fort’s durability against the various elements. This emphasizes the message that hazard-resistant building codes help prepare communities against events such as earthquakes, storms, floods, and fires.
The activity sheet follows two kids building a snow fort and discussing different construction and reinforcement strategies. It includes other activities such as snow globe designing, match-the-snowmen, and a maze. These activities entertain and educate children on the practical application of building codes in different situations.
BSB is excited to release this activity book for children, which aims to empower them to explore the role of building codes and relate them to real-world scenarios. The need to reach a younger stakeholder audience was evident through community events attended by FEMA and educators’ requests to use it in classrooms. BSB hopes to continue adding additional materials for children in the future to expand knowledge on the importance of building codes.
Catalog of FEMA Building Science Resources
FEMA’s Building Science and Earthquake and Wind Programs Branches have compiled this catalog of available FEMA publications for natural hazards. The publication descriptions are first organized by primary hazard – earthquake, food, high wind, hurricane, multi-hazard, other hazards, Mitigation Assessment Team (MAT) program, and building codes resources – and then by stakeholder groups – individuals and homeowners, teachers and kids, private sector and small business, community planning and policy, building professionals and engineers (contractors, builders, engineers, and architects), and private sector and small business – and are further arranged by subject areas and ordered alphabetically.
P-787 Catalog of FEMA Building Science Resources[EW27]
Building Science Resource Library
The Building Science Resource Library contains all of FEMA’s hazard-specific guidance that focuses on creating hazard-resistant communities.
FEMA’s Building Science Library
Using Land Use and Building Codes to Increase Resilience Webinar
Combining land use planning and development decisions with strong building codes can reduce vulnerabilities to buildings and infrastructure as well as save lives.
Have you considered why your community and its buildings look the way they do? It’s because of plans, policies, and regulations that govern where (guided by land use planning) and how (guided by building codes) we build. This webinar outlines the essential role that land use planning and building codes play in reducing disaster risk.
Where and How We Build: Using Land Use and Building Codes to Increase Resilience
Public Assistance: FEMA’s Disaster Recovery Grant Policy for Code Enforcement and Administration
FEMA implemented a disaster recovery grant policy under the Public Assistance program, Building Code and Floodplain Management Administration and Enforcement.[EW28]
This policy offers building officials and communities an effective way to access resources needed to effectively administer and enforce building codes and floodplain management ordinances for up to 180 days following a major disaster declaration. The goals of the new policy are to increase the overall speed of recovery and enhance compliance with state and local building codes and floodplain management ordinances.
The policy was established by Section 1206 of the Disaster Recovery Reform Act, which made several important policy and regulatory changes to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act.
Public Assistance: Policy and Building Code Decision Tree – Navigating Building Damage within the Public Assistance Grant Program
The FEMA Policy and Building Code Decision Tree: Navigating Building Damage within the Public Assistance Grant Program guides FEMA staff, FEMA Public Assistance (PA) grant applicants, or their representatives, hazard mitigation officers, and others through the process of making determinations and decisions related to substantial structural and substantial damage.
As “substantial structural damage” and “substantial damage” are two conditions that require a building to improve beyond its pre-damage state, FEMA Public Assistance (PA) policy allows improvement of a damaged building through replacement when the cost of repair would exceed 50% of the replacement cost.
This document has been developed to guide FEMA staff, PA grant applicants or their representatives through the process of making these determinations and decisions.
Download the decision tree.[EW29]
Reducing Risk and Improving Resilience to Buildings and Their Utility Systems – Fact Sheets
FEMA Building Sciences at HQ (Building Science Branch – BSB) and Region IV published two fact sheets aimed at reducing risk and improving resilience to buildings and their utility systems. The fact sheets explain that, before building in your community, it is important to recognize the hazards that may be present and their potential impact and provides numerous considerations and resources to help mitigate those risks. Effective design, construction, code enforcement, and building to or exceeding the latest standard of practice increases the disaster resilience of structures and their associated utility systems exposed to risk, thereby reducing damages and injuries.
Fact Sheet one, FEMA Building Science Considerations for Risk MAP[EW30] , lists numerous Risk MAP Flood Risk products through which a Building Science lens can be applied by stakeholders to help minimize natural hazard impacts to their property or community. These include Depth Grids, changes since the last Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM), Flood Risk Assessment, Community Engagement and Outreach, as well as other strategies, such as building above code, adopting and enforcing more stringent regulations and utilizing FEMA best practices.
The second fact sheet, FEMA Building Science Resources to Help Reduce Risk and Improve Resilience[EW31] ,
provides numerous resources to help foster disaster-resilient communities. Within the framework of Risk MAP, various stakeholders and communities can use building science resources to help better understand their vulnerabilities and risks, along with options available to them for implementing effective mitigation efforts to reduce building and utility damage and down time and reduce flood insurance premiums.
To do this, there are currently over two hundred BSB flood, wind, Building Code, Mitigation Assessment Team (MAT), Recovery Advisory, and other resources available. Ultimately, BSB resources can enhance Risk MAP product utilization by stakeholders and communities incorporating disaster resilience or best practices into their building and utility planning, code enforcement, design and construction.
Additional Resources
ICC – International Code Council
FLASH – Federal Alliance for Safe Homes
EERI – Earthquake Engineering Research Institute
ISO – ISO Mitigation (Verisk)
IBHS – Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety