Building up to code: insurers back stronger building codes to lessen catastrophe losses, but progress is slow in two Gulf States.(Catastrophes: Property/Casualty)(Statistical table)

Best's Review, August, 2006 by Cornejo, Rick

Stronger building codes have made a big difference in hurricane losses in Florida, and efforts are being made to bring some of that success to Louisiana and Mississippi in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. But start-up problems plague the process in Louisiana, and Mississippi's new code applies only to a few coastal areas and is optional.

"It's a start," said Tim Reinhold, vice president of engineering for the Institute for Business and Home Safety. "That's just a start down the path they need to go."

Most of Louisiana's parishes did not have any building code prior to the new statewide code, which was signed into law in December 2005 and still has a year to be fully implemented. Several coastal parishes have had the code implemented through an...

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