Experience shows that people taking refuge in homes built using current model building codes have the best chance of survival during disasters because codes and beyond-code construction practices include resilient building methods that are proven performers when disasters strike. Recent disaster events demonstrate this profoundly, as seen in this powerful video that tells story after story about Florida families and homes that survived recent hurricanes and tornadoes. Building codes also protect your home from non-disaster events like thunderstorms and house fires while saving money through reduced maintenance and increased durability and energy efficiency.
Yes! Strong building codes save you money by reducing and preventing disaster losses. According to FEMA, structures built using codes are 77% less likely to experience damage. Additionally, they help qualify you for lower homeowners and flood insurance rates because they score favorably on the ISO Building Code Effectiveness Grading Schedule (BCEGS), a score automatically factored into your insurance premium rating. Additionally, modern codes include protective features that may qualify you for insurance discounts and make your home more insurable overall.
Many economic studies validate building code savings. One entitled, Economic Effectiveness of Implementing a Statewide Building Code: The Case of Florida, found that the statewide Florida Building Code reduced windstorm losses by up to 72% and resulted in 5 dollars in losses saved for every 1 dollar of added costs with a payback period of approximately ten years.
Another study by the National Institute of Building Sciences found that buildings designed to meet the 2018 International Code Council (ICC) model code generated a benefit of $11 for every $1 invested.
Building codes may introduce a modest, increased cost at the time of new construction; however, the increase is offset by savings delivered throughout the lifetime of homeownership. Your well-built home is safer, more durable, energy-efficient, and valuable at the time of resale. Further, when the modest upfront cost is included as part of a mortgage, it may amount to as little as pennies per day, making new construction the most cost-effective and efficient time to strengthen buildings.
Model building codes are created by Standards Developing Organizations and are updated regularly, including incorporating building science advances and changes to underlying engineering standards. Jurisdictions can adopt model building codes and sometimes make amendments that may strengthen or weaken the performance of homes built according to the building code.
The International Code Council (ICC) and the National Fire Protection Association are two major model building code organizations. The ICC develops the International Residential Code (IRC) that governs the construction of approximately 80% of U.S. single-family houses, two-family houses, and townhouses with three or more units. ICC also develops the International Building Code (IBC) that governs new construction of all other types of structures, including multifamily homes like apartments, commercial buildings, and structures outside the scope of the IRC.
While the IRC does not have comprehensive tornado or wildfire-resistant requirements, some provisions can increase safety against these perils. For example, the high wind requirements for windborne debris regions can significantly increase a home's protection from tornadoes. However, tornado winds can exceed the anticipated design wind speeds for high-wind construction measures. For this reason, tornado storm shelters and safe rooms should be considered as they provide near-absolute life-safety protection, even in extreme tornadoes up to 250 mph. The 2024 IBC addresses tornado resilience through a new standard and new requirements.
While the IRC does not comprehensively address wildfire, some provisions increase wildfire protection for homes, including those addressing the spread of fires from house to house. Examples include the IRC provisions on Fire-Resistant Construction (Section R302) and fire ratings for roof coverings. The International Wildland-Urban Interface Code and the Standard for Wildland Fire Protection (NFPA 1140) are two Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Codes designed to reduce wildfire risk.
The International Building Code is for commercial structures and multifamily housing, such as apartments and structures outside the International Residential Code. The site will provide general structural resilience features that an individual owner or renter could consider for their unit. It will also provide building code history, when available, and a list of previous disasters for the jurisdiction.
For more information on building codes, visit the FEMA Building Codes Toolkit for Homeowners and Occupants, FEMA Protecting Communities and Saving Money: The Case for Adopting Building Codes, and FEMA Building Codes Adoption Playbook For Authorities Having Jurisdiction.
The site helps you learn about the strength of your home by analyzing the presence or absence of construction features necessary for achieving disaster resilience. The site addresses six natural disasters: earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, and winter storms.
The site is helpful for anyone interested in a home's potential strengths or weaknesses in the face of disaster and ways they can strengthen the home. The information provided is a starting point, subject to data limitations. Check with your local building department or jurisdiction about the building code that applies to your home, as local amendments often apply.
Always consult a licensed, qualified, experienced architect, engineer, or contractor before beginning a home renovation project.
The site information reflects an engineering analysis of different model building codes and features required for disaster resilience. When you enter an address, you will see tabs reflecting your location's top three disaster risks. Each peril includes a page with a 3D house illustration mapped with numbered structural resilience features outlined in red or green to indicate the presence or absence of each feature. Individual 2D retrofit illustrations with text, video links, and resources appear below the house, along with code and disaster history for the location.
If you enter your city and state, the site will indicate the top three disaster risks and model code incorporated by that city and state. You will also see the location's building code adoption and disaster history when available, along with a generic list of structural resilience recommendations that are not correlated to your specific address.
Yes, subject to data limitations, the site will indicate the model building code your jurisdiction adopted when your home was built, but it may not reflect local or statewide amendments. Check with your local building department or jurisdiction about the building code that applies to your home to identify any changes made at the local level.
The data provided on this website is derived in whole or in part from publicly available, individually researched, and source-provided data, including "as is" data via the Zestimate API.
The scale rating is a general, information-only indication of where a searched home rates on a sliding scale from "Vulnerable" to "Good" to "Best." The presence or absence of individual structural resilience features generates the rating. There are between seven and eleven resilience features for each of the six perils of earthquake, flood, hurricane, tornado, wildfire, and winter storm.
An older house built without modern codes or added resilience features will reflect a "Vulnerable" rating. A home built using the current model building code will reflect a "Good" rating. Houses constructed using all recommended resilience features will reflect a "Best" rating.
The scale provides information about improving resilience but cannot capture every factor influencing your home's performance against a disaster. That is why it is critical to secure a custom home inspection to determine the exact features of your home before beginning a retrofit project.
After you put in an address, the site will show tabs for the top three perils, and you can click back and forth to see the retrofit recommendations for each one. The weather perils are generated based on the National Risk Index.
The Strong Homes Rating is an information-only analysis of your home designed to help you understand your home's strength and potential to survive the disasters common where you live. It is not intended as a standalone tool. Check with your local building department or jurisdiction about the building code that applies to your home and identify any local amendments. Consult a licensed, qualified, experienced architect, engineer, or contractor before beginning a home renovation project.
The site uses an engineering analysis that compares building code data for each model year of the International Residential Code (IRC) and the structural features included in that code version against a list of essential features that make homes resilient. It does not reflect local amendments that may weaken or strengthen the code.
Check with your building department or jurisdiction about the building code that applies to your home to identify any changes made at the local level.
Yes. You can click or unclick individual features to see how they affect your rating. The more green-checked features, the closer your rating will move to "Best." If you change the features to denote a red X, your rating will move closer to "Vulnerable."
You can make your home stronger in the face of earthquakes by retrofitting, renovating, and making upgrades, including:
You can make your home stronger in the face of floods by retrofitting, renovating, and making upgrades, including:
You can make your home stronger in the face of hurricanes by retrofitting, renovating, and making upgrades, including:
You can make your home stronger in the face of tornadoes by retrofitting, renovating, and making upgrades, including:
You can make your home stronger in the face of wildfires by retrofitting, renovating, and making upgrades, including:
You can make your home stronger in the face of winter freeze and storms by retrofitting, renovating, and making upgrades, including:
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