Are you located in an area with hazard-resistant building codes?
HAZARD-RESISTANT building codes are designed for buildings to be constructed to withstand earthquakes, flooding, and high winds.
According to FEMA, they conducted an analysis based on 18-million actual buildings, the frequency of hazard events in each area and the type of building code in place which showed a 20-year period that WITH hazard-resistant building codes in place it would avoid at least 32-billion in losses from natural disasters compared to jurisdictions without modern building codes.
65% of counties, cities, and towns across the U.S. today, still have NOT adopted hazard-resistant building codes. The map below shows the varying levels of hazard-resistant code adoption throughout the US.
From an initial first glance it is very clear the areas that have adopted these codes are predominantly areas that high seismic risk, wind and/ or flood risk. However, natural disasters are breaking records year after year. From 1980-2021, the annual average per year was about 7-billion dollars due to disasters. 2020-2021, the record-shattering annual totals included 22 and 20 billion-dollars in disasters, respectively. The most cost-effective ways to safeguard communities from natural disasters – adopt and follow hazard-resistant building codes.
The adoption of hazard-resistant building codes would save an estimated $132 billion in property losses over the next 20 years.
Earthquake vs Hurricane Building Codes
- Seismic provisions have a resistance to ground shaking and vibrations.
- Hurricane provisions include extreme wind loads, levels of flooding, and surging water and debris.
- Some similarities between wind design and earthquake design.
- Both are referred to in design as “lateral load resisting systems.”
- US building codes do not require that structures be designed for both wind and seismic loads simultaneously.
Take note of where your real estate assets are located and do your due diligence and be sure to have annual building assessments. in For more information regarding our services, please visit https://saundersseismic.com/services/ Saunders Construction is the premier seismic retrofit and structural repair company in California. We service five states, California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, and Utah.