The Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety has released an update to its Rating the States report, which looks at building codes of the hurricane-prone states from Texas to Maine.
"This update provides each state a useful analysis of their latest building code activities and what steps they can take to better protect their communities. It also gives interested citizens useful information so that they can understand the need for, and demand, better building codes," says Julie Rochman, IBHS president and CEO.
IBHS plans to release a new report in 2015, so the nonprofit research organization is billing this report as "midterm update."
Have states made progress with building code activity since IBHS' original report was released in January 2012? Then, IBHS assigned each of the 18 states studied a score on a 100-point scale. This report assesses the states on whether they have taken positive action, negative action or no action.
Today we look at the Gulf Coast States. Monday we'll head north to post the progress, or lack thereof, of the next six states along the Atlantic. Click ahead to see more….
TEXAS
NO ACTION
No news is not good news for the Lonestar State since it scored a paltry 18 in the original report. IBHA says Texas has talked about its tremendous potential exposure to a wide range of natural disasters, including hurricanes. But the states continues to have no statewide residential building code. Only homeowners looking for insurance from the last-resort insurer, the Texas Windstorm Insurance Assoc., need to adhere to TWIA-adopted standards in order to get coverage.
LOUISIANA
NEGATIVE ACTION
Louisiana, which scored 73 in 2012, took a step back in 2013 with an emergency declaration by the State Code Council. It adopted recent versions of international building codes with new design wind speed maps. But it didn't include maps delineating high-wind design or windborne regions. "The state created a deficiency in areas subject to high winds," says IBHS, adding that it doesn't know why a emergency declaration was made or why the state council "ignored technical input that identified the deficiency."
MISSISSIPPI
NO ACTION
IBHS says this report is meant educate states. Apparently the Hospitality State's philosophy doesn't include building stronger homes. It scored the lowest of any of the 18 states, with 4 in 2012, and hasn't done anything to strength codes since, according to IBHS. The state has "virtually no statewide regulatory process in place for building codes." Legislation to adopt a statewide code was mulled this year but it didn't go anywhere. Scary thing is, IBHS says most states that scored low in 2012 have, like Mississippi, taken no action.
ALABAMA
POSITIVE ACTION
Alabama needed some positive action it after scoring 18 points in the original report. The Heart of Dixie adopted a statewide residential code, the Alabama Energy and Residential Code, for all jurisdictions statewide.
FLORIDA
POSITIVE ACTION
According to IBHS, the Sunshine State is one others should aspire to in terms of building codes. Florida scored 98 in 2012 and continue to be leader in codes. It is in the process of adopting the 2013 Florida Building Code, with a projected effective date of march 2014, based on more recent edition of the International Code Council.
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