New Florida Building Code Improves Residential Fire Safety

As of January 1, the Florida Building Code will adopt new smoke alarm regulations for residential structures. Beginning in 2015, homeowners must install 10-year, sealed-battery smoke alarms when replacing outdated, malfunctioning alarms or installing new ones. The Kidde Fire Safety … Continue reading

Why We Need Transparency in Green Building Certifications

As sustainability becomes a major selling point for real estate buyers, the prevalence of LEED, the Green Globes, and other certification seals is skyrocketing. Because they issue seals of quality for sustainable architecture, non-governmental organization green building councils (GBCs) hold … Continue reading

Municipalities Must Keep Miami-Dade County Historic Preservation Code—For Now

According to the Miami Herald, a committee of the Miami-Dade County Commission tabled a proposal on Wednesday regarding the county’s jurisdiction over historic properties. This controversial proposal would allow municipalities to “opt out” of county jurisdiction for historic preservation. Activists … Continue reading

Glass and Fenestration Affected by Latest Green Standards

The 2014 version of the green building standard was released by the U.S. green Building Council and the Illuminating Engineering Society recently, and according to Nick St. Denis, there are significant changes afoot for windows in green buildings. The latest … Continue reading

New Building Codes Will Change the Face of Tuscaloosa

Tuscaloosa City officials are preparing for a series of building code changes that will affect all future construction near the University of Alabama. Recently, the Planning and Zoning Commission passed a group of recommendations to improve the standards for exterior … Continue reading

Officially Released: the Reorganized ACI 318-14 Concrete Construction Guide

The American Concrete Institute (ACI), has finally released the updated and reorganized ACI 318-14: Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete. The 2015 International Building Code will reference 318-14. While the American Concrete Institute’s mission has always been to create and … Continue reading

Quality May Falter During Construction Industry Boom

The enormous growth in residential and commercial construction might suffer from quality issues, according to Quality Built, LLC, a firm that offers quality assurance and risk management support to the construction industry.  Quality Built’s construction defect data bank is the … Continue reading

2014 NATIONAL ELECTRIC CODE ADOPTED IN 12 STATES

For over a century, the IEEE Standards Association’s National Electrical Safety Code has been keeping America’s communications and electrical infrastructure safe, steady, and efficient. 2014 is ushering in the latest round of code revisions to the Code to reflect upon … Continue reading