-----Original Message-----
From:   Dan Becker [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent:   Saturday, April 25, 1998 12:33 AM
To:     [log in to unmask]
Subject:        National Building Codes

There is currently an effort underway to develop national model building
codes in the United States.  Presently there is a patchwork of model codes:
BOCA, Southern, etc., etc.  Individual states then can adopt the model code
of their choosing, and amend it to suit their preferences.  Most of us are
aware of the challenges that modern building codes structured for new
construction can pose for the rehabilitation of historic structures.

National codes have been completed for the plumbing, mechanical, and
electrical trades.  I understand that work is progressing on the building
code.

Here in North Carolina, two years ago the state adopted the innovative
Chapter 9 -- Existing Building Code, though not without a lot of resistance
from the state Department of Insurance, which oversees code-related issues.
This chapter brought some sense to the issue of construction involving
existing buildings, which of course also includes historic structures.  We
are concerned about losing this new and sympathetic tool, which was in part
modeled after the Canadian code for existing buildings.

Is anyone involved in or aware of this national code effort?  Are we as a
movement tracking it?  Is there a national committee looking at existing
building codes as part of the overall effort to devise a single model
building code?  This is an important area for us, with the potential to
either put a giant hurdle in front of every building rehab in this country,
or conversely, to make each building rehab easier and more sensitive to the
issues of preservation.


____________________________________________
Dan Becker
Executive Director, Raleigh Historic Districts Commission

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What you need to watch for is the rise of unbending rules as the means of code compliance.  Codified rules are likely to arbitrarily developed and to lie beyond the power of discretion in those who have to enforce them.  The reason for a national code is most likely to be based on concerns for human safety, and the rules that develop from these take no account of warm fuzzy notions of architectural sensitivities, and certainly disregard ancient rules (or theories) of proportion.  

New Zealand now has a national building code which prescribes such things as the height of balustrades and window sills where the floor level is more than a metre above the adjacent ground level.  The result is a minimum height for a handrail of 900mm (3ft) and no horizontal step or ledge under 750mm (2'6").  Any  openings in a balustrade below 750mm may not measure more than 100mm wide.  Stairs without balustrades are simply not permitted.  All this is based on the assumption that infants have a death wish and will attempt to throw themselves bodily from a height or thrust their tiny minds through any small opening - there is, no doubt supportive case law, but it is a profoundly pessimistic point of view.

All this means that vast numbers of older buildings don't comply.  Before a building can be sold, for example, it requires a "Certificate of Compliance" to show that it meets the requirements of the Building Code.  Without this, insurance can be void and owners can be liable in perpetuity for personal injury to subsequent users of the building.  

The NZ Code also leads to misinterpretation by local authorities - for example, requiring buildings to be upgraded to meet modern seismic standards if the use of the building changes (no requirement if the use is unchanged), even if the new use imposes lighter loads on the structure).  This is just an example of how the whiole process can come unstuck.

The Code is not a bad thing, but it can come up behind you and be extremely inconvenient - especially to the designing architect.  The lesson is, get involved in any code development and make sure that all relevant concerns and consequential effects are understood before it's too late.

Think on it

Jeremy Salmond
Salmond Architects
5a Victoria Road
Devonport
AUCKLAND 1309
NEW ZEALAND

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