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Q&A Of The Day – How Do Florida’s Building Codes Compare To Other States?
Each day I feature a listener question sent by one of these methods.
Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com
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Today’s entry: Brian, I understand the Champlain was built in the early 80’s and building codes have changed considerably since then but I keep hearing officials talk about the need to revisit the current building code. I thought Florida’s building code was already the most stringent. Is that not the case?
Bottom Line: I think the key to the conversation is less about whether Florida’s current building code is stringent as much as if there’s room to improve it based on the tragedy we’ve witnessed in Surfside. Of course, Andrew’s lessons forever changed Florida’s building code, but tweaks to it are still regularly made with the most recent tweaks as recent as last year. Prior to that it was 2017, 2014, 2010. You get the idea. If we learn something new that can lead to safer construction, it’s applied, and new code is issued. It’s likely that by the time the investigation into the Champlain Towers South building is concluded, we’ll have new code that reflects those findings. While the information we already know points towards warnings that may not have been acted on in time, it stands to reason that there will be takeaways that lead to changes to make for safer structures.
Already, it’s likely the 40 year-building inspection process will be moved up. 20–25-year inspections are already being discussed. I’d expect to see a statewide adopted policy with a narrower timeline attached. I'd also expect mandatory action being required when structural issues are identified within inspection reports, a la what was identified in the 2018 building report. Now, with all of that being said...yes, you’re right. Florida’s building code is ranked first nationally according to the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety. According to the Institute...
- Florida’s #1 with a building score of 95 out of 100
- Florida’s code adopts 49 of 50 recommended best practices
By contrast Delaware is last with a score of just 17 out of 100. Still, as strong as our best in the country building code is, there’s still slight room for improvement according to the Institute and the tragedy in Surfside is liable to be the catalyst to do it. Notably, yesterday Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine-Cava indicated that the County’s mandate to review all buildings 40 years and older, revealed one building with issues on four balconies’ sufficient that she ordered an evacuation of them and immediate repairs for them. I suspect that won’t be the last.