Stronger Flood Protection Standards Are Coming for New Hospitals, Schools and Apartments
The International Code Council has approved stronger building codes to protect hospitals, schools and other structures from flooding
The Barker Reservoir and Buffalo Bayou Dam are shown August 30, 2017 in Houston, Texas. The city of Houston experienced severe flooding in some areas due to the accumulation of historic levels of rainfall.
CLIMATEWIRE | Many new hospitals, schools, apartment buildings and other structures would be built with extra flood protection under a major revision to an international building code approved Friday.
A nonprofit that writes model building codes widely used in the U.S. took a step toward requiring that some newly built structures are constructed well above local flood level — and expanding the areas where elevation is required.
“This is transformative,” said Oregon State University engineering professor Daniel Cox, who led an expert panel that wrote and proposed the new flood standards. “It’s going to change how we mitigate floods in the U.S.”
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The standards were approved overwhelmingly Friday at a hearing in Orlando by a committee of the code-writing group, the International Code Council, despite building industry opposition.
The council will take a final vote in 2026 and the new standards would take effect in 2027.
The standards would apply only to states and other jurisdictions that adopt them. States are often slow to adopt new building standards. Some are facing pressure from building groups to reject updated standards that would modernize new buildings while increasing construction costs.
“Right now, a hospital and fire station are built…
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