Economic Effectiveness of Implementing a Statewide Building Code: The Case of Florida

64 Pages Posted: 4 May 2017 Last revised: 2 Sep 2017

See all articles by Kevin M. Simmons

Kevin M. Simmons

Austin College - Department of Economics

Jeffrey Czajkowski

University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School

James Done

National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)

Date Written: July 25, 2017

Abstract

Hurricane Andrew revealed inadequate construction practices were utilized in Florida for decades. In response, Florida adopted a new statewide code – the 2001 Florida Building Code (FBC) which became one of the strictest in the nation. We use ten years of insured loss data to show that the FBC reduced windstorm losses by up to 72%, then use our results to conduct a benefit-cost analysis (BCA). The FBC passes the BCA by a margin of 5 dollars in reduced loss to 1 dollar of added cost, with a payback period of approximately 10 years.

Keywords: Building Code, Benefit/Cost Analysis

Suggested Citation

Simmons, Kevin M. and Czajkowski, Jeffrey and Done, James, Economic Effectiveness of Implementing a Statewide Building Code: The Case of Florida (July 25, 2017). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2963244 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2963244

Kevin M. Simmons (Contact Author)

Austin College - Department of Economics ( email )

900 N. Grand, Suite 61591
Sherman, TX 75090-4400
United States
903-813-2341 (Phone)

Jeffrey Czajkowski

University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School ( email )

3641 Locust Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6365
United States

James Done

National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) ( email )

Boulder, CO 80307
United States

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
805
Abstract Views
5,544
Rank
64,132
PlumX Metrics