Building code, enforcement good for region
Establishing a regional permitting authority to help Central Louisiana comply with the new, stronger state building code makes sense. We’re glad that the Rapides Area Planning Commission has been awarded $724,000 to do just that.
The new agency will become home for building inspectors who have been certified by the respected International Code Council. They would inspect construction in the Cenla parishes that join the authority, and make sure that it meets sensible standards for a region that gets more than its share of wind, rain, flooding, tornadoes and so on.
The goals: to provide better construction and safer communities.
The challenges: time and money. Meeting tougher standards will cost more in material and labor. Some say it could add 5 percent to the price of a house. Also, ICC-certified inspectors are in short supply. More are needed.
Those two factors alone have made state Act 12, the code’s enabling legislation, unpopular with some. After all, who wants to pay more for a home?
That’s the wrong question. Better to ask: Who will pay more for a stronger, safer home?
The home-building industry may take a minor hit as the marketplace and mortgage companies gets comfortable with the changes. That’s OK. This is a good move for a state that is rebuilding.
The state took a $32 billion hit from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. So did insurance companies. The damage would have been less if more homes and other structures had been built to higher construction standards.
Louisiana property owners had problems getting insurance long before the storms hit. Since August and September of 2005, when they did hit, insurance companies have raised rates, threatened to pull out of the state, pulled out of the state, or done some combination thereof.
Without the assurance that new homes will be built at least to take a typical Louisiana pounding, insurers will not want to do business here. Those that do will have to charge through the nose.
No one benefits from living in structures that are not up to snuff. They are dangerous for the residents and, by extension, for their neighbors. Think about that flimsy roof across the street the next time it starts to buckle when the wind kicks up in your neighborhood.
Or take a look at the many homes whose foundations are cracked and failing. Some of that is caused by age and the relentless moisture that defines Louisiana. There’s not much you can do about that. But much of it is caused by low building standards and lax enforcement. When someone clears a lot, for example, but doesn’t pack the ground and let it settle enough, the house that goes up is destined for expensive repairs when the foundation gives out in a year or two.
Louisiana is more than ready for this improvement. Setting and meeting higher standards will benefit everyone.
