A building code, or building
control, is a set of rules that specify the minimum standards for
constructed objects such as buildings
and nonbuilding structures. The main purpose of building codes are to protect public
health, safety and general welfare as they relate to the construction and
occupancy of buildings and structures. The building code becomes law of a particular jurisdiction when
formally enacted
by the appropriate governmental or private authority.
Building codes are generally
intended to be applied by architects,
engineers,
constructors and regulators but are also used for various purposes by safety
inspectors, environmental scientists, real estate developers, subcontractors, manufacturers of building
products and materials, insurance companies, facility managers, tenants,
and others. Codes regulating the design and construction of structures where
adopted into law. Codes in developed western nations can be quite complex and
exhaustive. They began in ancient times and have been developing ever since. In
the USA the main codes are the International Commercial or Residential Code
[ICC/IRC], electrical codes and plumbing, mechanical codes. Fifty states and the
District of Columbia have adopted the I-Codes at the state or jurisdictional
level.
Other codes may include fire, health, transportation, manufacturing, and other
regulations/regulators/testers such as UL; Underwriters Labs. In essence they
are minimum standards of design and implementation. Designers use ICC/IRC
standards out of substantial reference books during design. Building
departments review plans submitted to them before construction, issue permits
[or not] and inspectors verify compliance to these standards at the site during
construction.
There are often additional codes or
sections of the same building code that have more specific requirements that
apply to dwellings
or places of business and special construction objects such as canopies, signs,
pedestrian
walkways, parking lots, and radio and television antennas.
History
Antiquity
Building
codes have a long history. It is commonly recognized that earliest known
written building code is included in the Code of
Hammurabi which dates from
circa 1772 BC.
228.
If a builder build a house for some one and complete it, he shall give him a
fee of two shekels in money for each sar of surface.
229
If a builder build a house for some one, and does not construct it properly,
and the house which he built fall in and kill its owner, then that builder
shall be put to death.
230.
If it kill the son of the owner the son of that builder shall be put to death.
231.
If it kill a slave of the owner, then he shall pay slave for slave to the owner
of the house.
232.
If it ruin goods, he shall make compensation for all that has been ruined, and
inasmuch as he did not construct properly this house which he built and it
fell, he shall re-erect the house from his own means.
233.
If a builder build a house for some one, even though he has not yet completed
it; if then the walls seem toppling, the builder must make the walls solid from
his own means.
The Bible book of Deuteronomy stipulated that parapets must be constructed on all houses to prevent people from falling off.
Modern era
After
the Great Fire of London in 1666, which had been able to spread
so rapidly through the densely built timber housing of the city, the Rebuilding of London Act was passed in the
same year as the first significant building regulation. Drawn up by Sir Matthew Hale, the Act regulated the rebuilding of
the city, required housing to have some fire resistance capacity and authorised
the City of London Corporation to reopen and widen
roads. The Laws of the Indies were passed in the 1680s by the Spanish
Crown
to regulate the urban planning for colonies throughout Spain's worldwide
imperial possessions.
The
first systematic national building standard was established with the London
Building Act of 1844. Among the provisions, builders were required to give the
district surveyor two days' notice before building, regulations regarding the
thickness of walls, height of rooms, the materials used in repairs, the dividing
of existing buildings and the placing and design of chimneys, fireplaces and drains
were to be enforced and streets had to be built to minimum requirements.
The
Metropolitan Buildings Office was formed to
regulate the construction and use of buildings throughout London. Surveyors
were empowered to enforce building regulations which sought to improve the
standard of houses and business premises, and to regulate activities that might
threaten public health. In 1855 the assets, powers and responsibilities of the
office passed to the Metropolitan Board of Works.
The
City of Baltimore
passed its first building code in 1859. The Great Baltimore Fire occurred in February, 1904. Subsequent
changes were made that matched other cities. In 1904, a Handbook
of the Baltimore City Building Laws was published. It served as the building
code for four years. Very soon, a formal building code was drafted and
eventually adopted in 1908.
In
Paris, under the reconstruction of much of the city under the Second Empire (1852–70), great blocks of apartments were
erected and the height of
buildings was limited by law to five or six stories at most.
Types of building codes
"Sutyagin's
skyscraper"
(Небоскрёб Сутягина) - supposedly world's tallest wooden
single-family house - found to be in violation of fire codes by the city of Arkhangelsk, Russia, and was
demolished.
The
practice of developing, approving, and enforcing building codes varies
considerably among nations. In some countries building codes are developed by
the government agencies or quasi-governmental standards organizations and then enforced across the country
by the central government. Such codes are known as the national
building codes (in a sense they enjoy a mandatory nation-wide application).
In
other countries, where the power of regulating construction and fire safety is vested in local
authorities,
a system of model building codes is used. Model building codes have no
legal status unless adopted or adapted by an authority having jurisdiction. The
developers of model codes urge public authorities to reference model codes in
their laws, ordinances, regulations, and administrative orders. When referenced
in any of these legal instruments, a particular model code becomes law. This
practice is known as adoption by reference. When an adopting authority
decides to delete, add, or revise any portions of the model code adopted, it is usually required by the model code developer to follow a formal adoption procedure in which
those modifications can be documented for legal purposes.
There
are instances when some local
jurisdictions
choose to develop their own building codes. At some point in time all major
cities in the United States had their own building codes. However due to ever
increasing complexity and cost of developing building regulations, virtually
all municipalities in the country have chosen to adopt model codes instead. For example, in 2008 New York City abandoned its
proprietary 1968 New York City Building Code in favor of a customized
version of the International Building Code. The City of Chicago remains the only municipality in America that
continues to use a building code the city developed on its own as part of the Municipal
Code of Chicago.
In
Europe, the Eurocode
is a pan-European building code that has superseded the older national building
codes. Each country now has "country annexes" to localize the
contents of the Eurocode.
Similarly,
in India, each municipality
and urban development authority has its own building code, which is mandatory
for all construction within their jurisdiction. All these local building codes
are variants of a National
Building Code,
which serves as model code proving guidelines for regulating building
construction activity.
Scope
The
purpose of building codes are to provide minimum standards for safety, health,
and general welfare including structural integrity, mechanical integrity
(including sanitation, water supply, light, and ventilation), means of egress,
fire prevention and control, and energy conservation. Building codes
generally include:
- Standards for structure, placement, size, usage, wall assemblies, fenestration size/locations, egress rules, size/location of rooms, foundations, floor assemblies, roof structures/assemblies, energy efficiency, stairs and halls, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, site drainage & storage, appliance, lighting, fixtures standards, occupancy rules, and swimming pool regulations.
- Rules regarding parking and traffic impact
- Fire code rules to minimize the risk of a fire and to ensure safe evacuation in the event of such an emergency
- Requirements for
earthquake, hurricane, flood, and tsunami resistance,
especially in disaster prone areas or for very large buildings where a
failure would be catastrophic
- Requirements for specific building uses (for example, storage of flammable substances, or housing a large number of people)
- Energy provisions and consumption
- Grandfathering provisions: Unless the building is being renovated, the building code usually does not apply to existing buildings.
- Specifications on components
- Allowable installation methodologies
- Minimum and maximum room and exit sizes and location
- Qualification of individuals or corporations doing the work
- For high structures, anti-collision markers for the benefit of aircraft
Building
codes are generally separate from zoning ordinances, but
exterior restrictions (such as setbacks) may fall into either category.
Prescriptive
vs. performance
These requirements are usually a
combination of prescriptive requirements that spell out exactly how something
is to be done, and performance requirements which just outline what the
required level of performance is and leave it up to the designer how this is achieved. Historically
they are very reactive in that when a problem occurs the building codes change
to ensure that the problem never happens again. In recent years there has been
a move amongst many building codes to move to more performance requirements and
less prescriptive requirements.
Traditionally building codes were
generally short non complex interrelated sets of rules. They generally included
reference to hundreds of other codes, standards
and guidelines that specify the details of the component or system design,
specify testing requirements for components, or outline good engineering practice.
These detailed codes required a great deal of specialization to interpret, and
also greatly constrained change and innovation in building design. In recent
years several countries, beginning with Australia, have moved to much shorter
objective based buildings codes. Rather than prescribing specific details,
objective codes lists a series of objectives all buildings must meet while
leaving open how these objectives will be met. When applying for a building
permit the designers must demonstrate how they meet each objective.
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