1. Slower Approvals And Higher Soft Costs: With many jurisdictions preparing 2026 updates, clarification requests spike, delays compound and soft costs rise. Even before financing or construction, ...

As the United States faces a mounting housing affordability crisis, a debate is intensifying between home builders and code officials over how best to balance costs, safety, and long-term efficiency ...

A new poll of Los Angeles County voters shows significant support for strengthening building codes and restricting homebuilding in high-risk areas after January’s Palisades and Eaton fires. Voters ...

Building Safety Month, an annual public awareness campaign led by the International Code Council (ICC), returns on May 1, 2026, with this year’s theme, “Built to Last.” The campaign highlights how ...

Safe Homes, Strong Communities” focuses on simple actions homeowners can take to improve safety at home. Week Two (May 11—17): “Voices of the Built Environment” spotlights building safety ...

Solving some of the problems associated with homelessness will require more creative and realistic building codes to allow improvised, cheap, but still safe and healthy options. At the end of July, I ...

In the wake of Hurricane Helene, two feet of rain fell on western North Carolina, damaging or sweeping away thousands of houses in landslides and floods. At least 101 people died. In many cases, ...

You love your home. It's your personal haven, your biggest investment. Yet beneath that familiar comfort lurks something most ...

For the past 25 years, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has helped develop building codes, the construction standards that help houses survive hurricanes, wildfires and earthquakes. Now, ...

Gainesville City Council adopted a new set of building codes at Tuesday evening’s meeting. The previous building codes were aligned with the 2018 edition published by the International Code Council.