What Are Building Codes?
Building codes were
created to reduce or prevent accidents from happening in and around
buildings. Buildings today are engineered and
designed with many
different solutions and have solved hundreds if not thousands of
problems from our past.
Example Of Building Code: Stairways shall not be
built less than 44 inches in width. Exception: Buildings with less than
49 occupants have a 36 inch minimum stairway width.
Engineers design structural elements of the building to withstand the
elements like, wind, rain, snow, earthquakes and even certain soil
conditions that could cause the building to move. If the building was to
move enough, it could easily become damaged and damaged buildings could
cost their owners, lots of money in home repairs.
Almost every city or county in the United States has a Building and
Safety Department. I'm using the word almost, because you could be
living in an area that's unincorporated and might not have one.
You can contact almost any city, county or state governments to find out
if you have a Building and Safety Department that enforces
building
codes in your area. Here's a little tip, when it comes to dealing with
the government. Don't accept anything as a fact, always double check
your information.
Example: If you contact your local police department to find out if you
have a Building Department in your area and one of their representatives
said that you don't, it wouldn't be a bad idea to contact the mayor's
office or the fire department, to verify this information.
Back To Stair Building Codes