Here's how to assess building code differences from state to state

The report is intended to focus public attention on the need for strong statewide building codes while underscoring the importance of code enforcement on a state-by-state basis. The report also include steps states can take to improve their building code systems to provide better protection for their citizens and communities.

The 2015 edition of IBHS' Rating the States report finds most states with strong building code systems in place at the time of the original 2012 report remain committed to building safety. Three states—Virginia, Maryland and Mississippi—have taken notable steps to further strengthen code protections for their residents, IBHS found. Unfortunately, a number of states have taken no action to improve their code systems, and a few have weaker systems in place now than they did in 2012.

Report methodology

A list of 47 objective questions was developed to assess the code and enforcements sytems in each of the 18 state's covered by the report. The questions are divided among three main elements:

1. Code adoption and enforcement (50% of total score)
2. Building official training and certification (25% of total score)
3. Licensing requirements for construction trades who implement building code provisions (25% of total score)

Each question was assigned a value reflecting its relative importance in promoting life safety and reducing property losses, with the sum total of the values equaling 100. States received credit, or were awarded the value of a question when their answer is consistent with promoting life safety. Consequently, an individual state received a score from 0-100 based on the answers to the 47 questions used in the evaluation.

The report looked at state performance as a whole and provided a relative standing for each state. After identifying data points in each category, IBHS constructed a model that weighs the activities and/or processes associated with each element.

States received points based on IBHS research relating to a set of questions seeking to gauge the statutory and regulatory environment in three categories. Points were allotted when the answer to a given question was consistent with promotion of safer residential construction. No points were allotted if the answer to a given question was inconsistent with the promotion of safer construction. No negative points were allotted. As a result, possible scores range from 0–100, with zero being the weakest and 100 the strongest score. Actual scores ranged from 17–95.

By examining the detailed assessment elements, policymakers and other interested parties can find a clear roadmap to strengthen their residential building code system and improve their standing in this report. Since the original Rating the States report in 2012, some refinements were made in the data collection and approach to better reflect states' activities. The majority of these corrections were minor, and did not significantly affect the states' scores. One exception was Texas, which received additional points because its contractor licensing and plumbing code adoption were inadvertently omitted in the original report.