Comparison of selected codes and standards relating to existing residential buildings

The performance levels of older residential buildings generally do not comply with the standards for safety or function that are applied of new buildings. The extent to which seven codes vary among each other in establishing minimum requirements for life, health and safety in existing dwellings, the differing approaches provided by traditional housing codes in contrast to more recently developed rehabilitation guideline documents regarding performance levels, and the degree to which each code meets its intended goals of providing and maintaining human shelter, protection, and privacy is examined. The code provisions are compared and analyzed in sixteen major code areas (e.g., structural requirements, light and illumination, plumbing requirements, etc.). Various inconsistencies among code documents with respect to uniformity and irrational approaches in the historical development of code provisions are indicated.