BusinessReport.com

It’s no great secret the relationship between North and South Louisiana is uneasy at times. If North Louisiana were Sonny Bono, its southern counterpart would rotate roles between an “I Got You Babe”-era Cher and a ski slope tree.

Lawmakers are quick to tout any projects funded north of Alexandria as hard-fought dollars wrestled from the grips of Baton Rouge and New Orleans. And now another issue has arisen and looks to restore geography over party-line politics as the dividing factor of choice in Louisiana.

Much of the south is banking on the building codes to help lessen the damage from any future storms that hit the area. However, the northern, more rural areas of the state point to concerns of construction and inspection costs as an undue burden on an area without the same level of exposure as that of South Louisiana. The two sides look to settle the issue in the upcoming legislative session.

The state passed its uniform construction codes in November 2005, only a couple of months after Hurricane Katrina made landfall. “I’ve never seen a state move so far so quickly,” says Jeff Burton, building codes manager for Florida’s Institute for Business & Home Safety.

The state is following the policies of the International Code Council, and is divided into three bands—south, central and north—that determines what standards a parish must employ for construction. Beginning this year, any new construction must pass inspection for compliance with the codes.

The new codes bring with them an assortment of challenges and concerns, primarily based on costs. Florida has been hit by 110 hurricanes in the last century and a half, more than the combined total of Louisiana (49) and Texas (59) during that time. While the frequency with which Florida is hit makes it difficult to make an oranges-to-oranges comparison when talking hurricanes, its work with building codes provides the best basis for looking at what’s in store for Louisiana.

And, as building code opponents suggest and supporters concede, one of the things in store is higher a residential building cost. “Florida has one of the most stringent building codes in the country,” says Edie Ousley, public affairs director for the Florida Home Builders Association. “As a result of the stringent building codes, the cost of new home construction has definitely increased.”

Shatter-resistant windows, doors and garage doors add anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000 to the price of a home in Florida, depending on the size of the house. As more items like roof tie downs are added to the must-use list, the total cost of damage mitigation increases. And that leads to more issues. “Any time you increase the cost of housing, you’re pricing out a significant portion of your population,” says Ousley.

In Florida, every $1,000 increase in the price of a house prices out 25,000 families from being able to buy it. Incidentally, the Florida Home Builders Association still adamantly supports the building codes.

Back home, Baton Rouge engineer Wynn White looks at estimated construction costs with some skepticism. The dramatic cost increases, he says, are only in store for a select few. “I think the truth, depending on the size of the structure, [the increase will be] 5% to 15%,” says White. “If you were doing it right to begin with, it will be closer to the lower end.”

Then there is the issue of inspection and enforcement. Louisiana Recovery Authority board member and former Jefferson Parish President Tim Coulon, while supporting the codes and coming from a parish with abundant resources, understands why more rural areas would be feeling the pinch. “I do feel the pain of the parishes that feel this is an undue burden put on them by the Legislature,” he says.

But much of that burden is being relieved. Between the state and federal governments, millions of dollars have been earmarked for bolstering code education and establish inspection offices. The state has passed out $8 million and the federal government has launched a $14 million grant program. The LRA added an additional $11 million for inspection expenses in the parishes hardest hit by Katrina.

What will ultimately be a deciding factor on whether or not the codes are a good idea is, of course, their effectiveness in a storm. Following the 2004 hurricane season, a variety of organizations in Florida examined how homes built after stricter codes were implemented fared in Hurricane Charley compared to their older counterparts. “We knew, as a result of that, new houses under the new building codes performed exactly as they were designed to,” says Ousley.

One comparison by the Institute for Business & Home Safety showed houses built before 1996 were six to 10 times more likely to have to replace a garage door than those built in 1996 or later, when the bracing and track requirements were stiffened. Overall, IBHS studies show that every dollar spent on code-mandated improvements saves $40 in post-event repairs, the type of statistic that has supporters of the code confident it will prove to be a beneficial move for the state.

“We need to design and build our buildings so they will survive the storm,” says White. “We’re going to get water in those buildings. If those buildings are still standing we can deal with that.”