Building regulations in most states and localities include provisions to protect homes and their occupants from severe weather events and other natural hazards. The number of significant natural disasters over the past few years combined with concerns over the effects of changing weather patterns and climate change have led to calls by some to do more.

NAHB supports of the continuing efforts to improve the nation’s resiliency and its capacity to respond to catastrophic events, but cautions that care must be taken to ensure that these initiatives:

• are focused on the highest risk areas and structures, including homes built prior to 2006,
• be based on sound scientific data,
• rely on a clear methodology, and
• consider the financial and administrative impact of new regulations.

Policy Statement

NAHB supports a comprehensive approach to addressing natural disasters and their effects on the entire housing stock of the United States while reducing the costs associated with natural disasters.

NAHB supports initiatives focused on implementing cost-effective, market-driven solutions that encourage greater resiliency in the nation’s housing stock — while preserving housing affordability and maintaining the availability of buildable land.

Why Building Resilience Matters

Natural disasters disrupt hundreds of thousands of lives per year, and have lasting effects on people and property. In an effort to reduce the impacts and threats associated with these events, many federal, state and local governments have, or are considering, adopting policies and programs to increase community resilience, reduce property damage and costs of reconstruction, as well as insurance claim and disaster assistance payouts. To date, these actions have included ordinances that disallow new construction in certain areas, laws establishing mandatory hazard mitigation requirements, and the adoption of more stringent building codes, among others.

These approaches should be developed with input from the home building industry, which is greatly affected by both the impacts of natural disasters and the policies developed to mitigate damages and promote economic recovery.

According to a poll by Pew Research Center, 73% of U.S. adults support stricter building standards for new construction in communities in places that are at high risk of extreme weather. However, new construction is already subject to more stringent codes than the majority of the existing housing stock in U.S. communities.

Governments should focus on creating incentives to bring more existing homes up to current code levels to help reduce the impact from natural disasters without adding significant costs to rebuilding efforts. These upgrades should also be better reflected in property values and appraisals to account for the costs necessary to bring homes up to current code levels.

Challenges for Rebuilding After a Natural Disaster

Builders are active members of their communities and play a critical role in helping communities rebuild after a disaster. However, there are challenges that communities need to be prepared for that builders alone cannot overcome.

• Cost: When older homes are damaged by natural disasters, they need to be rebuilt to current code, which can often create sticker shock for owners trying to move forward as current building and energy codes are exponentially more expensive. This may cause owners to walk away, rather than choosing to rebuild.
• Resources: While many are quick to provide resources for recovery, there are not as many outlets available to help with the actual rebuilding. This includes having a workforce available to help rebuild, which is a current struggle for home building on the whole.
• Insurance: Insurance premiums have increased significantly in recent years to the point that some owners are opting to forgo insurance, leaving them financially exposed in the event of a natural disaster. Worse, some insurers are no longer offering policies in certain areas that are prone to disasters, so owners are left without a choice.

On top of these challenges is the population shift toward areas that are experiencing extreme weather. Millions have flocked to Florida and the Carolinas, according to analysis by The New York Times, adding density and additional opportunities for damage to storm-prone communities. Many are looking to escape rising housing costs, even if it means moving to areas at risk for wildfires, flooding, tornadoes and more.

Explore this section to learn more about the policies impacting resiliency, what builders are doing to rebuild their communities and educate them on building resiliency, and what additional steps builders can take to improve the performance of today’s homes.