4 ms·

The building codes are the objective criteria. Most government building codes I've seen will require compliance with certain engineering standards, and the engi

The building codes are the objective criteria. Most government building codes I've seen will require compliance with certain engineering standards, and the engineering standards themselves will say things like "a building built in this part of the country must be able to withstand x ms-2 in vertical acceleration and y ms-2 in lateral acceleration". It doesn't get any more objective than that.

dmm 16y ago
Well... kind of. There is a whole lot of shit like this: 705.1 General. Each portion of a building separated by one or more fire walls that comply with the provisions of this section shall be considered a separate building. The extent and location of such fire walls shall provide a complete separation. Where a fire wall also separates groups that are required to be separated by a fire barrier wall, the most restrictive requirements of each separation shall apply. Fire walls located on property lines shall also comply with Section 503.2. Such fire walls (party walls) shall be constructed without openings. (from the 2000 ICC building codes) It is specifying a specific arrangement of firewalls. What if I can make buildings even safer with nothing resembling firewalls? It's not nearly as clear cut or simple as "building must be able to withstand x forces". Plus it's not as though housing contractors actually build experimental buildings in earthquake test facilities to see if they comply. What they do is screw a bunch of prefabricated pieces together. All of which are accepted by the inspectors as following the codes. The result is a monoculture which is highly reluctant to accept new ideas. Remember that building boards consist of people from the construction industries, they people who make and use these materials. The people who make the decisions on whether your buildings are unelected boards who have investments in the status quo. They can force you to spend 100s of thousands in engineering fees to convince them that your design is safe enough for you to live in.
- brudgers 16y ago
  It's not requiring fire walls. It is allowing their use as a method of code compliance - Trust me, the ability to use fire walls to create separate buildings provides enormous economic savings to developers and owners every day.

dmm 16y ago

Well... kind of. There is a whole lot of shit like this: 705.1 General. Each portion of a building separated by one or more fire walls that comply with the provisions of this section shall be considered a separate building. The extent and location of such fire walls shall provide a complete separation. Where a fire wall also separates groups that are required to be separated by a fire barrier wall, the most restrictive requirements of each separation shall apply. Fire walls located on property lines shall also comply with Section 503.2. Such fire walls (party walls) shall be constructed without openings. (from the 2000 ICC building codes) It is specifying a specific arrangement of firewalls. What if I can make buildings even safer with nothing resembling firewalls? It's not nearly as clear cut or simple as "building must be able to withstand x forces". Plus it's not as though housing contractors actually build experimental buildings in earthquake test facilities to see if they comply. What they do is screw a bunch of prefabricated pieces together. All of which are accepted by the inspectors as following the codes. The result is a monoculture which is highly reluctant to accept new ideas. Remember that building boards consist of people from the construction industries, they people who make and use these materials. The people who make the decisions on whether your buildings are unelected boards who have investments in the status quo. They can force you to spend 100s of thousands in engineering fees to convince them that your design is safe enough for you to live in.

brudgers 16y ago
It's not requiring fire walls. It is allowing their use as a method of code compliance - Trust me, the ability to use fire walls to create separate buildings provides enormous economic savings to developers and owners every day.