In 1999 when a 6.3 earthquake hit west of Bogota, Columbia nearly 1,200 people died, 4,750 were injured and 250,000 were left homeless.

Earlier this year when a 6.8 quake hit south of the Seattle area, the area suffered one heart-attack related death, fewer than 200 residents suffered personal injuries and about 200 people were temporarily displaced.

What made the difference?

Building codes.

Now that the first set of uniform building codes are place from a new international building code authority, neighboring countries could soon enjoy some of the life-saving building techniques that save lives and limit damage in earthquakes and other disasters in the United States.

Building codes are the minimum standards for design, materials and building techniques used to protect the health and safety of anyone occupying buildings.

Compliance with building codes is triggered whenever a building or planning department issues a permit for anything from installing a residential water heater to constructing a major office building.

While anyone can propose building code changes, supplemental codes are added and existing codes modified largely by building engineers and other building professionals working with private non-profit corporations controlled by public safety and building officials.

"We've had changes for balcony railing guards submitted by housewives because they know the diameter of the head of a child, and anyone is invited to public hearings, but for the most part it's industry people with a vested interest in construction," said Roy Fewell, vice president of public policy for the Whittier-based International Conference of Building Officials (ICBO).

For decades, the bulk of western states' building codes were created by ICBO which specializes in seismic codes. The County Club Hills, IL-based Building Official and Code Administration (BOCA), which specializes in snow-related codes, created codes for northern states and, specializing in wind-related codes. The Birmingham, AL-based Southern Building Code Congress International (SBCCI) provided codes for the south.

The three authorities often developed overlapping codes and in 1994, in order to create a comprehensive and coordinated set of building codes, the three authorities merged as the International Code Council (ICC) based in Falls Church, VA.

Six years later, the ICC published the first uniform set of so called "I-Codes," building codes, fire codes, mechanical codes, plumbing codes, fuel gas codes, sewage disposal codes, property maintenance codes and other codes for 2000.

Most states have adopted the 2000 I-Codes, which are already in the process of being revised.

To help save lives and reduce disaster-related foreign aid, Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-CT) and Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro (D-CT) last month introduced the "Code and Safety for the Americas (CASA) Act" to improve building practices in Latin America.

Co-sponsored in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), the act would authorize $3 million over two years from general foreign aid funds to translate the I-Codes into Spanish. The bill also calls for pilot training programs for architects and engineers in Ecuador and El Salvador, with the intent of expanding the program through private partnerships to other countries.

"Most countries in Latin America lack uniform, tested building codes. This legislation will save lives, lessen the damage caused by future disasters, and illustrate our good will toward our Latin American allies while proving to be cost-effective for the United States through decreased aid following future disasters," Dodd said.

In the U.S., some groups have continued as competing code makers, most notably the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAMPO) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).

In any event, once codes are handed down from the ICC and other code authorities, state and local jurisdictions are free to make changes or amend the codes based on local needs, provided the changes don't create less restrictive codes and often provided the changes are based on topographic, geological or climatic differences in the jurisdiction.

"You might be able to use alternate construction methods or materials, provided you can prove - to the satisfaction of the building official -- that your way is as good or better than what the code book prescribes," according to B4Ubuild.com.

Local permit, building, planning and zoning departments can provide you with specific information about which building codes are currently being used as guidelines in your area.

For more articles by Broderick Perkins, please press here.

Published: August 24, 2001

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Broderick Perkins parlayed a career in old-school journalism into a contemporary digital news service that really hits home. The award-winning consumer journalist, originally from Wilmington, DE, is founder, publisher and executive editor of the bootstrap DeadlineNews Group, a Silicon Valley-based editorial content and consulting service specializing in residential real estate, consumer news and related editorial consulting services. The DeadlineNews Group includes the website, DeadlineNews.com, offering real estate editorial content and consulting services, and its back shop, the Deadline Newsroom, an open house on news that really hits home. Perkins obtained his formal journalism education from University of Delaware and a journalism boot camp, the Institute of Journalism Education at the University of California-Berkeley. He went on to 20 years of service as a daily newspaper journalist at the Wilmington, DE News Journal and San Jose, CA Mercury News. Perkins covered housing on the San Jose Mercury News reporting team which earned a General News Reporting Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for coverage of the Loma Prieta earthquake. He has also produced real estate, consumer and small business content for the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, RealtyTimes.com, Nolo.com, Better Homes and Gardens, the National Association of Realtors, Homestore/Move and Intuit/Quicken among more than three dozen publications. In addition to managing the DeadlineNews Group, Perkins most recently served as chief editorial consultant for Nolo's Essential Guide To Buying Your First Home, Nolo, and writes real estate television scripts for RealtyTimes.com.