New Bill to Toughen Florida Building Code

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New Bill to Toughen Florida Building Code

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**Preparing Stories for the Beginning of Hurricane Season**

TAMPA, Fla., May 25 /PRNewswire/ -- With hurricane season

beginning June

1st, a new bill designed to toughen the Florida Building Code is

making its

way through both the Florida House and Senate, and is expected to be

signed

into law by Governor Jeb Bush any day. The bill, HB-835, will

eliminate a

provision in the existing code, which allows for structures to be

built

without window protection if certain other building criteria are

met. The

legislation was inspired by a number of research studies conducted

after the

2004 hurricane season. The studies concluded that proper window

protection

was highly effective but illustrated that the " designing for internal

pressures " provision allowed wind and water to enter buildings,

thereby

destroying contents and creating severe mold problems.

Representative Detert (R - Venice) and Senator Lynn

(R - Ormond Beach) sponsored the legislation and were honored at a

recent

luncheon in conjunction with the Governor's Hurricane Conference in

Tampa.

Representative Detert accepted a safety award co-presented by the

Protecting

People First Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to

improving glass

safety, and Solutia Inc., a manufacturer of protective interlayers

for impact-

resistant glass. Lindstrom, a Florida resident who lost his

uncle due

to wind-borne debris flying through unprotected windows caused by

Hurricane

Charley, gave the award. In an emotional statement, Lindstrom

described the

tragedy and expressed his gratitude for Rep. Detert's help in making

Florida a

safer place to live.

According to National Hurricane Director Max Mayfield, " Florida

is

entering a period of heightened hurricane activity that could last

several

decades. Better building codes can help save lives. "

Wayne Sallade, Emergency Manager from Charlotte County, also

applauded the

work of the legislators. " This legislation provides a safer

environment for

people who are not evacuated during a hurricane. We need to do

everything we

can to prevent needless deaths during hurricanes. "

Nanette Lockwood, a professional engineer with Solutia and long-

time

advocate for improved building codes, discussed several recent

studies that

all pointed to the need for mandatory opening protection in the

building code.

" If the current Florida Building Code continues to allow the

designing for

internal pressures as a way to protect homes and businesses, " says

Lockwood,

" The economic losses from hurricanes will never stop. Once water

enters a

structure from broken windows, the economic impacts begin. This

change was

approved in the 2006 International Building and Residential Codes

and will now

likely become a reality for Florida in the 2007 Florida Building

Code. "

But much work is yet to be done, says Lockwood. Because the

current

building code only covers new construction and major remodeling

projects,

approximately 94 percent of Florida's buildings are not up to code

today.

" That's a pretty grim statistic. "