Insurance Study Rates Georgia Building Codes Among Weakest

The insurance industry says that Alabama’s building standards and enforcement practices are among the weakest of all the hurricane-prone areas in the country. The state ranked 15th among 18 states near the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean in a study by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety.

Alabama “has no statewide residential code and no enforcement requirements for the select codes that do exist,” the study said. “Because there are no statewide code requirements, there is no state program for certification of building inspectors.”

Statewide codes set minimum standards for how structures are built. Meeting such standards and hiring inspectors to make sure the properties are being built to code can add costs. But by reducing storm damage, codes can also save lives, protect property and keep insurance coverage less expensive and more widely available.

In 2010, state lawmakers approved legislation allowing the Alabama Energy and Residential Codes Board to create mandatory, statewide building codes. Codes are expected to be approved later this year.

A few of Alabama’s 67 counties have implemented their own building codes. Baldwin County, for example, requires that properties be built to withstand winds of 140 mph.

Building standards are particularly important in coastal areas that experience hurricanes.

“It’s a huge and crucial part of any package of solutions that we need to consider” to address the availability and affordability of insurance in Mobile and Baldwin counties, said Sen. Ben Brooks, a Mobile Republican.

Problems with the availability and price of insurance have been of most concern in coastal areas. But the tornadoes that devastated parts of central and north Alabama last year could change that. Alabama residents in tornado-ravaged areas soon may see their insurance rates rise and companies deny them coverage, according to Rep. Steve McMillan, R-Gulf Shores.

“I’ve heard that, within a year, they’re probably going to be on equal footing with us” on the coast, McMillan said.

Wanda Edwards, director of code development for the IIBHS, said that even strict building codes can’t protect properties that are hit directly by the strongest tornadoes. But codes can reduce the damage caused by some wind storms such as weaker tornadoes or the outer bands of big twisters.

Alabama scored 18 out of a possible 100 points on the IIBHS study, which considered the strength of codes, enforcement mechanisms and requirements for contractors to be licensed.

Texas also mustered 18 points, while only two states — Delaware and Mississippi — finished behind Alabama. Florida and Virginia garnered the highest marks in the survey of state codes in force last year, with 95 points each.

Some construction industry officials have objected to statewide codes. But Edwards said that there usually is little extra cost associated with building to code, and it’s much more dangerous to live without such rules.

“Without building codes you don’t have any assurance that even the minimum standards are being met,” Edwards said.

When states implement building codes, they also must hire inspectors to make sure that builders follow the rules. As state and local governments face revenue shortages, paying for this may be a significant challenge.

Many counties don’t have building inspectors, McMillan said, and some that do are cutting back to save money.

“A major part of the problem is enforcement,” McMillan said.