Architecture: Regs & Best Practices

Generally, codes and standards are the most important and specific frameworks that builders follow. Codes provide a set of rules that specify the minimum acceptable level of safety for “manufactured, fabricated or constructed” objects. They frequently have been enacted into law on the state and local level and noncompliance can result in legal action. Repeat: noncompliance can result in legal action. Standards, on the other hand, establish engineering or technical requirements for products, practices, methods or operations. They literally provide the nuts and bolts of meeting code requirements. If the codes tell you what you have to do, then the standards tell you how to do it.

It’s important to note that codes, in most circumstances, are not issued from behind closed doors by people unfamiliar with the requirements of the construction business. Many legally enforced codes are based on existing standards—especially “voluntary consensus standards”. These standards are drawn up by influential domestic or international organizations through a consensus-based process, designed to be open and balanced.

Excerpted taken from:  Originally published by: Retrofit Magazine(link is external) — March 17, 2016 

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