NC building code battles draw attention in Helene’s wake

In the wake of Hurricane Helene, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper plans to return to the state legislature for a third time after being thwarted twice before in efforts to keep building codes strong.

In 2023, the legislature overrode the governor’s veto of a bill blocking any new building code until 2031. Last summer, the legislature overrode another veto, this time taking over the authority to appoint building code board members of the state.

“Over the next several months, as the General Assembly works to pass legislation to help with Hurricane Helene recovery, they should consider amending this law,” said Jordan Monaghan, the governor’s deputy communications director, in a written answer to the questions. “General Assembly legislation halting building code updates makes North Carolina less competitive for federal funds to strengthen the response of communities across the state to natural disasters like Hurricane Helene.”

The governor’s office pointed to a state Department of Public Safety estimate that those actions by the legislature cost the state $70 million in FEMA funding, because building codes would not require the construction of the house to be stronger.

According to the North Carolina State Fire Marshal’s Office, statewide building codes are based on I codes, a series of internationally recognized building codes. Local governments may adopt floodplain management regulations within their jurisdictions, and they are not subject to approval by the state building code board. There are 222 such local jurisdictions in North Carolina, a mix of those at the county level and others that are for individual municipalities.

The state’s ranking dropped

The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) ranked North Carolina 6th out of 18 states for the strength of its building codes in 2012, then dropped to 7th in 2015, 2018 and 2021 and 8th this year.

“Maintaining a regular code update cycle related to IRC updates is imperative to ensure that the latest science and engineering knowledge is incorporated into our building codes,” the IBHS report states. “This prevents unnecessary damage to homes and businesses and helps keep pace with rapidly evolving technologies and building materials.”

The IBHS report on its rankings issued every three years states that North Carolina only applies the 2015 Tier I code standards, not the most current ones issued in 2021. Florida, preparing for Hurricane Milton, ranked first or second on the IBHS list in each of the five times it was issued.

“FEMA will not send money to rebuild areas that are likely to flood again or have storm damage again unless we update our building codes,” said state Sen. Natasha Marcus, who is running against the commissioner of insurance Mike Causey. .

More build code downgrades to come

Marcus pointed to a specific provision approved by the Legislature, which goes into effect Jan. 1, 2025, that further reduces construction requirements, particularly for “wrap,” meaning how many nails must be used and how close they must be when build a plywood house.

“It should be inspected before we go ahead and cover this work, because if you don’t do it right, the roof will blow off or the walls will fall,” she said. “Starting January 1, 2025, we will no longer have shell inspections and I am very concerned about what will happen to that. I don’t know how quickly they will have to admit that. it was a mistake. Consumers won’t necessarily know they no longer have this protection.”

Building codes can regulate the slope on which houses can be built. In North Carolina, only 20 jurisdictions in the entire country have these rules, according to a legislative analysis researcher who works with North Carolina state representative Pricey Harrison.

The role of the insurance commissioner

While the North Carolina insurance commissioner, as agency head, does not set building code rules or appoint building code board members, the position does deal with the consequences.

“What I would prefer to see as the insurance commissioner is that the focus is on resiliency and making sure that when something is built, it’s not built in a flood plain or it’s not built in a location dangerous as possible,” he said Mike Causey, the commissionerwho noted that flood insurance is usually based on height.

“We have one state building code, but you probably have 600 different interpretations of the same building code. What would be good, in my opinion, would be to have a more uniform interpretation,” he added. “It could be somebody at the state level, and that could be the insurance commissioner or the board of building inspectors, to say that’s the correct interpretation. Maybe the building code board should, when there’s language that’s confusing, they should say, we’re going to go ahead and clarify that language by saying, in this case, this is what needs to be done.”

Causey’s opponent, Marcus, acknowledges that the commissioner has no direct authority over building codes, but said, “Anytime there’s an issue that impacts life and safety and/or insurance in our state, the Insurance Commissioner has ability and I Think about the debt, to weigh in, even if sometimes just through the bully pulpit or talk and find partners who want to work on it directly affects insurance and life and safety.”

Marcus said he wants to hear from local building inspectors in areas affected by Helene about what caused the buildings to fail and what they think should be done to rebuild. “I hope there will be a new push to update building codes about building on steep slopes,” she said.

The North Carolina Legislature was scheduled to hold a special session Oct. 9 on a disaster relief bill.