Construction Building Codes

Building codes and safety purpose. Building codes act an important role in construction and design phase. In the past, most building codes and standards have used prescriptive (or compliance) criteria. In recent years, there has been strong interest worldwide in developing codes and standards that are more performance based ( Foliente, 2000). The purpose of building codes are to increase safety in the design of the project and its construction. For example, according to the 2010 California Building Code, the multiple purpose is clearly stated that "to establish the minimum requirements to safeguard the public health, safety and general welfare through structural strength, means of egress facilities, stability, access to persons with disabilities, sanitation, adequate lighting and ventilation and energy conservation; safety to life and property from fire and other hazards attributed to the built environment; and to provide safety to fire fighters and emergency responders during emergency operations." (CBC, 2010). Building codes are created by the local governments, state and federal. The federal government is the least active participant, mandating design standards on such matters as the Americans with Disabilities Act. Actually, under the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Construction, building codes are a problem of state concern, and there is no national building code. Every cities and
For example, all the codes consent that the means of egress cover exit, exit accesses and exit discharges. However, the required width of exits, allowable length of corridors, and hourly fire-resistance rating of the components and similar requirements may differ between codes (Sharon, 2008). Life safety code(LSC), International Fire code(IFC), ICC Performance Code(ICCPC) and Americans with Disabilities Act(ADA) have chapters dedicated to means of