Homebuilders fear a section of the new building code that designates Cape Cod as a high-speed wind zone will drive up housing costs.
They urged state regulators last week to re-evaluate the section of the code that classifies the Cape and Islands as a region that can get winds of 120 miles per hour and greater. The designation means that homebuilders and remodelers on Cape Cod have to install expensive windows and use a more labor-intensive and costly framing process to withstand such high-speed winds.
The stricter construction standards will make housing on the Cape unaffordable, homebuilders argue.
“People are not going to be able to build new homes,” said Jason Cox, a Cape Cod contractor and framing specialist.
Cox was one of dozens of builders who appeared at a public hearing of the Board of Building Regulations and Standards last week to challenge the designation. Cox estimated that framing a typical Cape-style home under the new standards could cost up to $28,000 more.
The Home Builders & Remodelers Association of Cape Cod predicts that the cost of building a typical 2,000-square-foot home under the new standards could be 22 percent to 25 percent higher. Builders say the stricter standards are unnecessary because the Cape region isn’t at risk for a devastating hurricane and because current standards sufficiently protect homes.
“[Construction standards] here [are] already extremely overcompensated for wind,” said Cox.
The Board of Building Regulations and Standards issued the seventh edition of the building code in April. The new edition of the building code, which is based on the International Residential Code, designates the Cape and Islands as a 120-mile-per-hour wind-borne debris region.
The board also adopted a new method for measuring wind speed. The new method takes into account three-second wind gusts, instead of longer sustained wind speeds. Under the old code, the region fell under a 90-mile-per-hour sustained wind-speed zone.
Builders from Cape Cod asked the board last week to establish a task force to evaluate that particular section of the code and address their concerns. In the meantime, the builders want to revert to the old code’s 90-mile-per-hour designation.
Rob Padgett, a Cotuit-based builder who is president of the Cape’s homebuilder group, said builders in the region already have to deal with restrictive zoning and building guidelines. The new designation will make it much more difficult to build affordable housing, he said.
Under the new code, new homes on Cape Cod will have to include impact-resistant window glazing, which provides protection during hurricanes.
“What that means in terms of cost is that a window that now costs $400 for material only now costs $750 to $800. It’s about a 70 [percent] to 80 percent increase in the price of a window alone, not including the additional labor costs it will include to install the window,” said Padgett.
Padgett also said the additional framing requirements under the new code aren’t necessary.
“In the Northeast, we over-frame. This is just adding more framing requirements. It’s just way, way overkill,” he said.
The code changes come at a time when homeowners on the Cape are being hit with higher insurance premiums as insurance companies scale back coverage or stop providing insurance in the region altogether.
Models Challenged
Builders said they were surprised by the designation and don’t think it’s justified.
Elizabeth Kovach, a builder and past president of the builder association, said the designation appears to be heavily influenced by the catastrophe computer models that the insurance industry uses to forecast which regions will be hit by hurricanes and how they will be affected by the storms. Those models are being challenged by scientists and other experts, she said.
Kovach also pointed out that wind-speed maps accepted by the American Society of Civil Engineers clearly indicate that the 120-mile-per-hour three-second wind gust line is south of Nantucket, not over the Cape Cod Canal as indicated in the new building code. The International Residential Code’s wind-speed standards are based on the American Society of Civil Engineers’ maps.
“Mandatory 120 mile-per-hour wind-borne debris protection across all of Cape Cod will increase the cost of housing in an already strained region and put homeownership out of reach to even more residents of Cape Cod,” said Kovach, who owns Windswept Custom Homes in East Dennis.
Harry Smith, a board member, said a technical advisory committee recommended the 120-mile-per-hour zone designation a few months ago.
“I never got the reasoning for it. The board was told by staff that they had good reasons to recommend this mainly due to those models [that insurance companies use],” Smith told Banker & Tradesman after the hearing.
Smith, who is president of HF Smith and Associates Construction Consultants in Weymouth, said the new edition is in effect concurrently with the sixth edition until Oct. 1. Until then, a builder who wants to take out a permit can indicate under which code he wants to operate.
The board has been striving to mirror the language of national model codes, according to Tom Riley, the board’s code development manager. He said the board voted last month to change the 120-mile-per-hour wind designation for the Cape to a 110-mile-per-hour designation.
Brian Gale, a board member and local building inspector, said he thought the vote to reduce the wind speed to 110 miles per hour would alleviate some of the builders’ concerns.
But Thomas Donovan, a Bourne builder who served on the board for 11 years, said even with the change, up to half of Cape Cod could still be classified as a wind-borne debris region. Homes within that region would still need the more expensive impact-resistant window glazing.
The builders have won the support of state legislators, including Senate President Therese Murray and Reps. Matthew Patrick and Cleon H. Turner, who represent Cape communities.
Patrick said the new code puts a tremendous burden on the Cape because people are already struggling to afford housing. Citing U.S. Census data, Patrick said 60 percent of the people on Cape Cod work retail or service industry jobs with an average income of less than $23,000. A quarter of Cape residents are seniors living on fixing income, he added.
Smith, the Weymouth consultant and board member, said he expects board members to vote on the homebuilders’ recommendations at its June meeting.
“Everybody seems to grasp that concept that Massachusetts is very expensive to build and live in. The senior politicians get it. The Legislature gets it. The code people get it. But there’s still a few people out there that don’t get it,” he said. “We can’t be adopting codes that are driving people out of their community.”
