The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety released the 2021 edition of Rating the States, its report evaluating building codes and the administration of code provisions along the hurricane coastline from Texas to Maine.
In the 2021 Rating the States rankings, Florida again takes the top spot for strongest building code with Virginia following one point behind on the 100-point scale. Notably, in this edition IBHS researchers identify South Carolina as the state to watch after significant positive code advances between 2012 and 2015. The Palmetto State now comes in at third place. Rounding out the top five are New Jersey and Connecticut. Meanwhile, neighboring North Carolina rates as most improved in the 2021 edition, gaining five points compared to its 2018 rating.
Massachusetts saw the largest decline of any state coming in three points lower than in the 2018 edition because the state removed the wind-borne debris requirements for coastal areas. Of the 18 states ranked, eight are categorized as 'Poor'. Those states, including Georgia, New York, Maine, New Hampshire, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi and Delaware, lack a mandatory statewide building code.
"Building science has advanced significantly over the last decade, providing cost-effective strategies to reduce the impact of Mother Nature. Modern building codes are core to addressing the known risks of high winds and heavy rain that invariably come with these systems," says Dr. Anne Cope, chief engineer at IBHS. "Strong adopted and administered codes apply the latest science and engineering knowledge to protect homes and families from the catastrophic damage hurricanes bring and make our coastal communities more resilient for the future."
Now in its fourth edition, Rating the States is released every three years following the building code update cycle of the International Code Council. The report scores the 18 Atlantic and Gulf Coast states vulnerable to hurricanes based on a set of questions related to statewide building code adoption, administration and enforcement and contractor licensing requirements in the adopted building code. It also provides a roadmap each state can follow to improve residential building regulations and reduce the cycle of repeated losses resulting from hurricanes and other severe weather events.
