Florida lauded for its building codes, prior to the start of Hurricane Season 2018

Wayne T. Price
Florida Today

 

The recently released assessment by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety ranked Florida No. 1 in its assessment of  residential building code systems in 18 hurricane-prone states.

Florida's hurricane season is a month away but some positive news releated to the storm period already is blowing through the Sunshine State.

The recently released assessment by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety ranked Florida No. 1 in its assessment of  residential building code systems in 18 hurricane-prone states.

Florida scored 95 out of a 100, followed by Virginia at 94 and South Carolina at 92. The last assessment by the insurance institute was in 2015.It also released a study in 2012.

In coming up with its rankings, the institute looked at overall strength of building codes in states and effectiveness of their enforcement.

The release of the 2018 edition of Rating the States follows the damaging storms of Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma in 2017.

The 2018 Atlantic Hurricane Season begins June 1.

“Mother Nature delivered a serious and costly beating to the U.S. and its territories during 2017, with 25 million people impacted by catastrophic hurricanes and many more by other severe weather events,” said Julie Rochman, and president of the Tampa-based Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety.

“Bad weather is not new and will not stop," she said. " But what can and must stop is the continued construction, and inevitable destruction, of weak, vulnerable homes built – and too often rebuilt – in questionable locations."

Below as the institute's rankings for 2018 and 2015:

  • Florida

2018: 95

2015: 94

  • Virginia

2018: 94

2015: 95

  • South Carolina

2018: 92

2016: 92

  • New Jersey

2018: 90

2015 89

  • Connecticut

2018:89

2015: 88

  • Rhode Island

2018: 87

2015: 87

  • North Carolina

2018: 83

2015: 84

  • Louisiana

2018: 83

2015: 82

  • Massachusetts

2018: 81

2015: 79

  • Maryland

2018: 78

2015: 78

  • Georgia

2018: 68

2015: 69

  • New York

2018: 64

2015: 56

  • Maine

2018: 54

2015: 55

  • New Hampshire

2018: 46

2015: 48

  • Texas

2018: 34

2015: 36

  • Mississippi

2018: 28

2015: 28

  • Alabama

2018: 27

2016: 26

  • Delaware

2018: 17

2015: 17

Contact Price at 321-242-3658 or wprice@floridatoday.com. You can also follow him on Twitter @Fla2dayBiz.