FEMA Study Shows Resilience Value of Building Codes but Understates Cost Impact
A new study by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) argues for adopting the latest editions of building codes without amendment to provisions relating to resilience — protection from earthquakes, floods and wind — but discounts the costs associated with building to newer codes.
The Building Codes Save: A Nationwide Losses Avoided Study completes a multi-phase effort to quantify the benefits of adopting the International Building Code and International Residential Code in terms of economic losses avoided because of reduced damage to buildings and their contents from earthquakes, hurricanes and floods. The study estimates an annual savings of $1.6 billion in communities that have adopted the IBC and IRC since those codes were first published in 2000.
Key findings of the study include:
- An estimated $27 billion in losses because of earthquakes, floods and hurricanes have been avoided since 2000 in states that have adopted various editions of the IBC and IRC.
- An estimated $132 billion to $172 billion in losses could be avoided through 2040 through continued use of the IBC and IRC in states at high risk of earthquakes, hurricanes and floods.
- An estimated $600 billion in losses could be avoided by 2060 if all new building construction in the United States complied with the 2015 and 2018 IBC and IRC.