by Thom Zaremba, shareholder at Roetzel & Andress
After a series of devastating hurricanes along the East Coast and wildfires along the West Coast in the past 12 months, my last blog asked, “Should legislation mandating periodic inspections to bring buildings up to current codes be adopted in high-risk hurricane and wildfire areas?”
The effort could easily follow the model of Florida’s legislation that mandated periodic inspections following the collapse of one of the many high-rise condominiums in its Surfside community.
Given that the last rounds of hurricanes and wildfires in the country caused a combined loss of nearly 250 lives and property damage approaching half a trillion dollars, one might think it would be hard to argue against adopting this type of legislation. However, to assess the chances of legislation like this ever being adopted, let’s look more carefully at its potential cost.
Data collected by the United States Department of Labor reveals that in 2014 there were only 101,200 building code inspectors nationwide. That same year, there were just over a million single—and multi-family housing starts and about the same number of commercial building starts. Simple math suggests that each of the country’s building code inspectors had about 10 residential and 10 commercial buildings to inspect, starting from the approval of plans and drawings to onsite inspections for compliance with structural, fire, electrical, plumbing, mechanical and energy conservation requirements.
At the same time, building code inspectors were busy with new building starts. The data shows that about 6.5 million homes were in hurricane zones and another 30 million in areas at high risk for wildfires.
Again, doing the math, it becomes clear that legislation requiring post-occupancy inspections for the more than 36 million homes and buildings in hurricane and wildfire areas would require state and local jurisdictions to hire between 1.8 and 2 million building code inspectors. This is in addition to those already needed to inspect new building starts.
Given the magnitude of these numbers, it is simply not practicable to expect state or local jurisdictions to mandate post-occupancy building inspections. So, what is the solution?
One solution might be legislation requiring private pre-sale inspections to identify and disclose differences between existing building code requirements and the as-built condition of buildings being sold. This would enable sellers and buyers to adjust purchase prices based on the disclosed risks.
A better solution might be for individuals to take responsibility for these issues rather than wait for government solutions. That means, before buying, prospective purchasers should determine whether the property is in an area at risk for natural disasters. If it is in a hurricane or wildfire area, they should determine whether the property meets the current code or requires upgrades. If upgrades to meet the current code are required, the purchaser would do well to determine what kind of upgrades are necessary and what they are likely to cost.
Most residential purchasers look at the surrounding neighborhood, the home’s layout and the finish of the countertops. Commercial purchasers look at cash flow. Purchasers should also look at the building’s glazing. The type of glazing in a building’s envelope can provide helpful information to predict whether a property will likely require upgrades necessary to mitigate hurricane or wildfire risks.
For example, a purchaser should ask whether glazing in exterior windows and doors is hurricane-resistant in a hurricane zone. If it’s not, it is a clear red flag signaling that the property will need upgrades. Similarly, purchasers should look closely at the glass in its exterior windows and doors in a wildfire zone. If they are single-glazed, they were likely selected and installed before wildfire-related building codes were adopted.
Even if they are double-glazed, a savvy purchaser should investigate further to determine whether they are annealed, laminated, tempered or fire-protection-rated. But knowing the type of glass used in one or two windows may not be enough since at least one pane of glazing in all the windows and doors in exterior walls must be tempered or fire-protection rated to properly mitigate the risk from burning embers flying far ahead of a wildfire.
Ultimately, there is only so much local governments can do. Largely due to the scope of the undertaking and its costs, keeping our existing building stock resilient in the face of natural disasters must be the responsibility of individual unit owners.
One of the best and easiest ways prospective owners can assess property before purchasing is to look at the glass. Glass is magic! It not only keeps the weather out while letting us see what’s going on outside — it’s also a great litmus test that can predict whether the building you’re about to purchase is resilient or needs upgrades!