“Do something now, before the storms hit.” 

That’s the message that Jimi Grande and members of the BuildStrong Coalition are bringing to Capitol Hill this week as they lobby for legislation that would guarantee extra disaster aid to states that strengthen their building codes.

 The coalition plans to blanket Washington with op-eds and print ads this week in favor of the legislation. Lobbyists with the group hope the memory of Hurricane Sandy — which inflicted costly damage on the East Coast — will galvanize lawmakers to action before the summer storm season begins.

The coalition is pushing the Safe Building Code Incentive Act, which Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) plans to introduce this week in the House and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) plans to bring forward this week in the Senate.

 The bill would provide an additional 4 percent in disaster grant funding to states that adopt and enforce nationally recognized building codes. Diaz-Balart, who hails from a state often affected by hurricanes, said the legislation would encourage construction that can better withstand natural disasters.

“This to incentivize states to create these building codes, which have the effect of saving money and saving lives. It’s not rocket science, but that’s what we are trying to do,” Diaz-Balart said. “It’s not a mandate to the state. It’s an incentive for the states to do so.”

 Democratic Rep. Albio Sires of New Jersey, a state that bore the brunt of Sandy’s wrath, will co-sponsor the bill with Diaz-Balart when it’s introduced, according to a Sires aide. 

 Along with the media campaign and fly-in visits, BuildStrong plans to have a witness testify on Wednesday at a hearing of a Senate Homeland Security subcommittee. On Thursday, the coalition will stage an event with the Congressional Fire Services Institute to highlight the importance of building codes. 

 The coalition will cap off the lobbying push on Thursday when executives from USAA, State Farm, Travelers Insurance, Nationwide Insurance and Allstate visit House and Senate offices to lobby for the legislation.

The insurance industry has a financial stake in the adoption of tougher building codes. Stronger structures take less damage during storms, leading to lower repair costs and fewer insurance claims.

 “You don’t have to replace a whole house, just a few shingles instead. It saves a lot of money,” Grande said. “If insurers have to spend a lot of money to save your house, the rates are going to go up for everyone else. It’s simple math.”

 BuildStrong says the legislation would also be a money-saver for the federal government. The group released a study last year that found disaster aid costs could have been reduced up to $13 billion over the past 20 years, had the buildings hit by hurricanes been up to model codes.

 Insurance companies won’t be alone in their campaign for the bill, as the Congressional Fire Services Institute is also backing the legislation.

 Close to 2,000 fire service leaders will visit Capitol Hill on Wednesday and Thursday to discuss their issues, including the disaster aid legislation, according to Bill Webb, executive director of the institute.

 “Stronger building codes protect the public. They protect the fire service. Any time there is a natural disaster, the fire service puts its lives on the line,” Webb said. “It’s like what Ben Franklin once said, ‘An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.’ That’s what this bill is about to me.”  

 The building code legislation garnered bipartisan support in the last Congress. In June 2011, Diaz-Balart introduced the bill with Reps. Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.) and Sires as original co-sponsors, and ended up garnering 42 co-sponsors. Menendez  introduced the companion bill in the Senate after Sandy hit the Northeast. 

 The Florida Republican is looking to move the bill again this Congress and says it should have broad appeal to lawmakers. 

 “The reality is it affects everybody because it also deals with earthquakes and tornadoes, etc.,” Diaz-Balart said. “It’s very clear we can minimize the loss of life and of property and therefore also the expenditure of tax money to just have building codes that reflect reality and are enforced.”

 Supporters of the bill said the congressional process of rushing emergency funding to the House and Senate floor when disasters strike is not ideal. The smart approach, they say, would be to prepare for storms and other catastrophes before they hit.

From fire to flood, hail to tornados, and everything in between — Texas proved once again last year that it really does have the most diverse weather risk in the country. That exposure, to nine different types of natural disasters, is the biggest cost driver when it comes to buying homeowners insurance in the Texas marketplace.

While Texans cannot control the weather, implementing and enforcing sound building codes for new construction or when rebuilding can help reduce the resulting damage caused by that weather — and drive down the cost of insurance claims.

Building codes are designed to reduce deaths and property damage from hurricanes and other weather hazards by setting design, construction and maintenance standards for structures.

Yet Texas trails most coastal states when it comes to instituting and enforcing building codes, according to a residential building code analysis released last year by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS). Texas scored a dismal 18 points (out of 100) in the survey, lower than all but two of the 18 states along the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Coast.

Though Texas has adopted a statewide building code, the law allows municipalities to adopt weaker standards than set out in the code. Our low score in the IBHS survey is the result of the widespread lowering of standards in various areas allowed by current law, a lack of inspection and enforcement, and a lack of registration and licensing rules for various building trades.

The Texas Coalition for Affordable Insurance Solutions (TCAIS) read the IBHS report with interest — we will be advocating during the 2013 legislative session for broad adoption and better enforcement of nationally recognized building codes. During the legislative interim, TCAIS presented the IBHS report to the Senate Intergovernmental Relations Committee, which had a charge to “review housing and development codes, and guidelines for structures in areas prone to natural disasters, and make recommendations on how these structures can be 'hardened' to avoid loss.”

Good building codes, properly enforced, will save property and lives. They also will help insurers evaluate and manage the risk of property damage in our catastrophe-prone state. Damage to homes built to a strong code is less likely or less severe, leading to fewer losses and lower cost insurance claims.

Nine years ago Texas began passing reforms to strengthen its homeowners insurance market. Today, more companies than ever are competing for business here, even though they continue to absorb some of the most severe weather losses in the country.

Texas has the rare opportunity for a clear double benefit in this issue. Enforcing strong building codes not only is important to public safety, it is a logical next step toward a healthier insurance marketplace.

Read the full op-ed column here: http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/commentary/article/Sound-building-codes-can-reduce-weather-damamge-4168131.php#ixzz2HJjgDkUe

Beaman Floyd is executive director of Texas Coalition for Affordable Insurance Solutions (www.tcais.org), an alliance of insurance providers and trade organizations, whose members include Allstate, Farmers, Nationwide, State Farm and USAA.

The Menendez bill was co-sponsored by Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ).

Click here to read the BuildStrong Coalition's press release on the Menendez bill.

By Joseph Myers

In declaring May "National Building Safety Month," President Obama has provided some much-needed momentum to bipartisan legislation pending in Congress that would incentivize states to adopt and enforce model building codes as a disaster-mitigation strategy.

The Safe Building Code Incentive Act, which has garnered the support of several members of Congress from Florida, including U.S. Reps. Steve Southerland, Mario Diaz-Balart, Allen West, Jeff Miller, Daniel Webster, David Rivera, Thomas Rooney and Dennis Ross, would provide states that adopt and enforce model building codes adhering to the standards issued by the International Code Council with an additional 4 percent of post-disaster relief grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Florida is one of 16 states that would immediately qualify for additional disaster-relief assistance upon enactment of the Safe Building Code Incentive Act. But the real value of the legislation would be the powerful motivation it would provide to other states to follow the Sunshine State's lead and put strong building codes into law.

As someone who has spent his career in the emergency management field, I can attest that model building codes provide our best first line of defense against hurricanes, tornadoes and other natural disasters. When homes and office buildings are constructed by modern building science, it is simply harder for Mother Nature to knock them down. In the wake of Hurricane Andrew, Florida made a commitment to achieve the gold standard for maximizing the benefits of strong building codes. If more states would learn from our lessons, the nation would be more resilient.

The widespread adoption of strong building codes would better protect property, save lives and ultimately reduce taxpayer exposure to natural disasters. The problem is far too few states have model building codes on their books or lack the enforcement mechanisms to give their codes real teeth.

I commend the above-mentioned lawmakers from the Florida delegation for their leadership in promoting the Safe Building Code Incentive Act. This legislation provides a proactive strategy for better preparing the nation when major storms strike our communities.

Given the high level of tornado activity this year and the fact that climate experts are predicting more extreme weather patterns in the months and years ahead, our elected officials in Congress should place the Safe Building Code Incentive Act on a fast track and pass it before hurricane season commences in June.

In promoting building safety, Obama wrote that "resilient infrastructure is essential to an America built to last, and during National Building Safety Month, we recommit to strengthening our nation's ability to withstand the threats and hazards we face."

Passage of the Safe Building Code Incentive Act would strengthen the president's commitment to building safety and provide a clear road map for state lawmakers and governors to better fortify their state's defenses against nature's forces.

The Safe Building Code Incentive Act is one vital piece of legislation that can let Democratic and Republican policymakers reach across the aisle to do something lasting for the American people.

This bill would make a major difference for homeowners, small businesses and taxpayers. According to a study commissioned by FEMA, for every $1 invested in pre-storm mitigation such as the promotion of strong building codes, the nation reaps $4 of economic benefits. Further research conducted by Louisiana State University's Hurricane Center estimated that strong building codes, had they been in widespread use in the Gulf states, could have reduced wind damage from Hurricane Katrina by 80 percent, saving $8 billion. And yet another study, conducted by the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety, estimated Florida's strong building codes reduced property damage from Hurricane Charley in 2004 by more than 40 percent.

The scientific evidence supporting the effectiveness of strong building codes is overwhelming. Now it's time for Congress to act and make building to strong codes the national norm instead of the exception.

To read the full op-ed click here: http://www2.tbo.com/news/opinion/2012/may/18/naopino2-disaster-aid-bill-beneficial-to-florida-ar-404923/

Joseph Myers is a former director of Florida's Division of Emergency Management and a two-time past president of the National Emergency Managers Association. He lives in Tallahassee.

Regarding David T. Beito and Daniel J. Smith's "Tornado Recovery: How Joplin Is Beating Tuscaloosa" (Cross Country, April 14): While Joplin, Mo., appears to be outpacing Tuscaloosa, Ala., in rebuilding from the devastating tornadoes that ripped through both communities last year, waving building codes, which has occurred in Joplin, is a risky proposition that could be costly to homeowners and business owners.

Building codes are widely embraced in the emergency management community as offering a first line of defense against natural disasters. According to FEMA, for every dollar invested in pre-storm mitigation activities such as the promotion of strong building codes, the nation reaps $4 in economic benefits.

The problem is far too few states have adopted statewide, model building codes or lack the enforcement mechanisms to give their codes real teeth. There is bipartisan legislation pending in Congress that would provide states with financial incentives to adopt and enforce strong building codes. Given the high level of tornado activity this year and the threat of more dangerous weather once hurricane season commences in June, our lawmakers in Congress should place the Safe Building Code Incentive Act on a fast track.

States and communities will be much safer and better prepared to respond to natural disasters once model building codes are the national norm. The example of waving building codes in Joplin to expedite development is a classic case of being penny wise and pound foolish.

Joseph Myers is a two-time past president of the National Emergency Managers Association