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Home >> Articles >> Building codes, who needs 'em?
 From The Best Times - July 2003By Don Carter, Structural Engineer I do and so do you. Imagine a Royals’ game with no umpires or a passenger jet piloted by a bus driver. In the first example, we have rules going unenforced, and in the second there is performance by an unqualified operator. So it is with home construction. Left alone, there are people who would build a house with total disregard for the rules of safety and reliability, and there are those who would employ craftsmen who are without the skills required for their job. Absent minimum quality discipline, your house can be (could have been) constructed by whatever standards the carpenters, plumbers, roofers, electricians et. al. impose on themselves. Their standards, not yours, mine, or the community’s. Please know that there are many craftsmen who spent years in training and are well qualified for their calling. They have a lot of pride and do good work. But in Kansas we generally don’t see union-trained crafts in home building because it is a price-driven business. Thus we rely not so much on credentials, but quality checks on the work itself. That is why we adopt and enforce building codes with their related witness points. But let’s not limit this narrative just to the crafts. HGTV and the like have emboldened a few people to play architect, engineer and homebuilder. I routinely work for people who draw their own house plans or get floor plans out of a magazine. Fine idea as far as it goes, but then who decides how big the roof rafters should be, what size I-beam it takes to hold up the floor, how much reinforcing is required in basement walls or what exterior framing is needed to survive a micro burst of wind such as Olathe saw just about a year ago? Before a building permit is issued, these things must be addressed and satisfactorily defined. I see no attempt on the part of local codes officials to discourage people who want to design or build their own home, but thankfully I do see a set of rules imposed to make sure the completed house is safe and livable. I read recently that many fire departments are taking over community ambulance service because newer homes are built to such high standards that the number of fires is way down —thus freeing the fireman to do additional duty. If all we ever got from building codes was better fire protection, they have served us well. Look at these examples: Codes mandate fire blocking built into wood framing to keep a fire in one room from spreading to adjacent rooms; egress windows so basement occupants can get out; 20 minute fire rated doors between garage and house and smoke detectors at all levels and in all sleeping rooms. Your city or county building codes administration is what stands between a potentially shoddy, unsafe and ill-conceived piece of work and a house that can be financed, insured and comfortably lived in. They are the cops, and it’s in part because of them that we in Johnson County enjoy such a high rate of demand for our used homes. Don Carter is a licensed structural engineer and managing general partner of Foundation Engineering Specialists LLC, a company specializing in residential design and assessments.  |
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