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Builders Win Big in First Code Hearing Round
NAHB scored significant wins for construction design, safety, security and affordability at the annual meeting of the International Code Council in Orlando, Fla., where more than 2,200 code change proposals were presented for consideration.
After a grueling 11 days, each filled with 12 to 14 hours of code hearings, the arguments presented by NAHB staff and member volunteers resulted in favorable votes on a number of key proposals advocated by NAHB, manufacturers and other interest groups. Among the big victories:
- Defeated proposals to increase the amount of wall insulation required by the IECC and IRC. The International Energy Conservation Code and the International Residential Code now require R-19 insulation in colder climate zones, but this could have been raised to R-21 or R-22. NAHB showed that the expected 20- to 25-year payback from these proposed changes was not worth the cost. NAHB Research Center figures show that the expected $400 to $500 cost of the higher insulation would result in only $10 to $15 a year in energy savings.
- Defeated a proposal to require the installation of a permanently mounted escape ladder for every emergency escape and rescue window above the first floor. Promoted by ladder manufacturers and fire fighting groups as a life safety issue, NAHB successfully argued that the drawbacks of these ladders outweigh the benefits, with the dangers of falling and improper use, lack of product control and security issues — in addition to costs — making them a bad choice. These escape ladders would also limit furniture placement and present other design concerns.
- Achieved approval of an NAHB proposal to reasonably address wind speed-up due to topographic features in the design of homes built on the tops of hills and ridges. The approved language significantly limits the application of wind speed-up effect requirements to local jurisdictions where there are documented, historical records of damage and where the changes in terrain are abrupt — for example, the mountains and valleys of the Hawaiian Islands or the high ridges along the Pacific coast. These requirements, under which houses must be engineered and built to costly hurricane-zone standards, are not justified in other areas, NAHB argued.
- Defeated a proposal to incorporate requirements into the IRC for fire department access roads and fire protection water supply. NAHB successfully argued that because the proposal was not a construction issue but a community land planning and zoning issue, it should be determined by local zoning laws, taking into consideration community resources, such as fire department locations and access to water.
- Defeated proposals to mandate fire sprinkler systems for all one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses in the IRC. NAHB based its arguments not on cost, but effectiveness. Study after study has demonstrated the overwhelming success of smoke alarms in preventing fire deaths; no such evidence exists for residential fire sprinklers, which are also fraught with installation and maintenance concerns. Fire sprinkler requirements remain in the appendix rather in the main body of the document.
- Defeated a proposal to increase by 1 foot the height to which homes in floodplains must be elevated above the 100-year floodplain elevation. The Federal Emergency Management Agency wanted to raise the height of new homes above the elevation required by the National Flood Insurance Program. NAHB successfully argued that the additional cost of construction would not provide any demonstrable benefit and additional “freeboard” requirements, like this proposal, should be left to local jurisdictions. The proposal would have applied to all coastal regions, including those near inland rivers, with an estimated cost of $3,000 to $4,000 for a $250,000 home.
NAHB was particularly concerned about the Great Plains and other regions where the floodplain can be extensive and not limited by the surrounding terrain. NAHB presented evidence from builders in the Great Plains showing that they would not receive the insurance discounts common in hurricane-prone regions that would make the elevation requirements more cost-effective.
- Achieved approval of a number of proposals to reorganize, simplify and provide greater flexibility in the IRC provisions for the design and construction of wood-framed wall bracing. NAHB worked with the ICC Ad Hoc Committee on Wall Bracing to resolve thorny problems in the current provisions. Most notably, it jettisoned a requirement to fully sheathe an entire dwelling with wood structural panels in order to be allowed to use the continuous sheathing method on one braced wall line.
Officials dropped a similar requirement for narrow wall bracing panels constructed at garage doors and added new or improved details for corner returns, tie-downs, wall offsets and angled walls. These changes will reduce construction costs by giving builders more options for providing braced wall panels and using alternative products, like gypsum and foam sheathing, in low-hazard regions.
- Defeated proposals to boost the need to install roof truss/rafter hold-downs (hurricane clips). The proposals would have eliminated toe-nailing of trusses and rafters to wall framing except in small houses in low-wind regions. For roof trusses, attachments would have to have been designed to the uplift loads provided on the truss design drawings. In certain cases, these loads are conservative and would increase the connection requirements.
NAHB is now back at the drawing board, working with the Wood Truss Council of America, the Institute for Business and Home Safety and similar advocacy groups to devise a way to cost-effectively address roof uplift concerns.
- Defeated proposals to require hail impact-resistant shingles and other roof coverings in many areas of the Central and Southern U.S. NAHB achieved a significant victory for consumers by blocking this proposal, again demonstrating the association’s advocacy for affordable homes. Supporters of the proposal did not provide any evidence that home owners would receive sufficient insurance discounts to offset the additional costs.
- Defeated proposals that would have limited the use of vinyl siding, gypsum sheathing and foam plastic sheathing. The proposals would have required the engineered design of siding and sheathing products rather than laboratory testing, and would have ruled out the use of vinyl siding over gypsum and foam plastic sheathing. The proposals did not recognize the excellent performance of these products in low-wind regions when they are properly specified and installed.
NAHB teamed with the Vinyl Siding Institute and the Foam Sheathing Coalition to defeat these proposals and instead introduce specific changes to vinyl siding attachment details to ensure proper performance. Where appropriate, gypsum and foam sheathing can still be used to enhance the energy efficiency and moisture resistance of homes.
- Defeated proposals to mandate carbon monoxide detectors in new homes. CO mandates should stay out of the residential building code until they have been proven to operate reliably, NAHB argued. Current technology is not sophisticated and accurate enough, resulting in false alarms and alarm failures, increasing the burden on emergency fire response and threatening lives. Further, manufacturers and other advocates have not yet agreed on guidance on where detectors should be installed for maximum effectiveness.
While NAHB was satisfied with its record of successful advocacy efforts, staff and members were disappointed that other proposals did not go as well for home builders.
For example, NAHB did not gain approval for a proposal added during the 2004 to 2005 cycle to eliminate very costly and onerous requirements for anchorage at the top of basement walls.
The requirements were based solely on the calculated capacity of the anchor bolts and sill plate and did not consider the historical performance of the current standard practice for anchoring the top basement walls to the framing, where few failures have occurred, NAHB argued.
A successful floor action for “approval as submitted” ensures that this item will be on the agenda for the Final Action Hearings in Rochester, N.Y. in May.
NAHB also did not get approval for a proposal to allow the use of the wind exposure category that results when all homes in a housing development are completed, instead of the exposure that exists when each individual house is constructed. Some jurisdictions allow this now, but it is not specifically addressed by the IRC. NAHB plans to modify its proposal to address the reasons given for disapproval and will submit the modified proposal for reconsideration at the final hearings.
Overall, with significant victories on these issues and others, NAHB and future home buyers were big winners at this first round of code hearings.
For a story in this week's issue of NBN on the outcome of the code hearings for multifamily builders, click here.
For more information, e-mail Calli Schmidt at NAHB, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8132.
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