Navigating Historic to Present U.S. Model Code Provisions for the Repair of Damaged Buildings

Many buildings suffer unexpected damage to the extent that continued use requires repair. As the extent of damage increases, so do questions regarding the necessary extent of the repairs. Are upgrades required? What code provisions apply? What is the difference between a repair and an alteration? Because building codes change over time, either they must require all existing buildings to be modified every time a change is introduced, or they must treat proposed and existing construction differently. Given the costs associated with upgrading existing buildings, model codes in the United States have taken the prudent position that, with a few exceptions, provisions apply only to construction that follows their adoption, whereas existing construction need only meet the provisions in effect at the time it was built. This notion is referred to as grandfathering, and it has many applications outside of the construction industry. Although upgrading older construction may at times be prudent and/or desirable, based on specific circumstances, it is seldom required to maintain code compliance. The action of repairing damage to an older building provides opportunities to incorporate improvements consistent with more modern construction. Sometimes such upgrades are worth the cost, and sometimes they are not. For this reason, U.S. model building codes have historically treated the repair of significant, unexpected damage differently from the repairs normally associated with routine maintenance. This paper examines the model building code provisions related to the repair of damaged buildings from the inaugural editions of the three U.S. model building codes, dating as far back as 1927, to the 2015 International Existing Building Code. Some fundamental themes found in all of the model codes discussed in this paper include the following: provisions governing repair are separate from others, grandfathering, and explicit allowance for like-kind repair for common circumstances. In the most recent model codes, like-kind repair and repair that does not make the building less conforming than it was previously are often explicitly allowed. Significant repair-related upgrades are now triggered only in limited circumstances.