Improving Construction Methods Through Code Changes Makes a Difference

[jar546]

Just one code cycle can make a difference when it counts. A picture is worth a thousand words.

 

[mtlogcabin]

And there are photos of houses built in the late 50's and early 60's that withstood Hurricane Andrew when it went through Homestead Fl with minimal damage but the homes built in the 70's and early 80's where severely damaged or completely destroyed. Shoddy construction practices, materials and inspections where a major contributing factor if my memory is correct. The best codes in the world are useless if not followed

JURY BLASTS BUILDING CODES REPORT ON HURRICANE ANDREW DAMAGE CALLS FOR MAJOR REFORMS

MIAMI -- Decades of corner-cutting and neglect by the construction industry and government building officials compounded the damage when Hurricane Andrew raked across south Dade County, a grand jury said on Monday.

www.sun-sentinel.com

The grand jury said the chief problem exposed by Andrew was a system through which builders essentially regulate themselves while government officials do little.

"We have foolishly been a community dependent upon the building industry to police itself," the grand jury said. "The opened guts of thousands of homes exposed countless violations" of the building code.

Buildings elsewhere in South Florida are susceptible to the same weaknesses that plagued those in south Dade, the report said.

"Many of these structures were built by the same contractors/developers who built in the devastated areas of south Dade," the jury said. "It should not be assumed these buildings comply with (codes) or were built better than the properties in south Dade."

 

[steveray]

Agreed...And 2-4 yrs is about 10% of a shingles life so there is bound to be some degradation there.....

 

[Paul Sweet]

The ones on the left might have been done by a shoddy roofer, and the ones on the right by a better roofer. I don't recall any national code changes around that time that would affect roofing. ASCE's change to ultimate wind speeds wouldn't have any real effect once ultimate speeds were converted to working stress speeds, just more steps when using working stress design. Did Florida have some amendments?

 

[jar546]

The ones on the left might have been done by a shoddy roofer, and the ones on the right by a better roofer. I don't recall any national code changes around that time that would affect roofing. ASCE's change to ultimate wind speeds wouldn't have any real effect once ultimate speeds were converted to working stress speeds, just more steps when using working stress design. Did Florida have some amendments?

There was a code cycle change between those two sections. It is more than the roof covering, the damage was structural too.

 

[ADAguy]

Agreed...And 2-4 yrs is about 10% of a shingles life so there is bound to be some degradation there.....

Comes down to crying for "minimums" vs "maximums. The days of contractor pride seem to be long gone.