The U.S. House of Representatives will soon vote on H.R. 5473, the Promoting Resilient Buildings Act. This bipartisan legislation extends a sunsetting provision in the 2018 Disaster Recovery Reform Act that gives local governments, home builders and home owners flexibility in their natural disaster mitigation plans.

NAHB is encouraging all members to contact their representatives and ask them to vote for the bill.

The Disaster Recovery Reform Act established the definition of “building codes” to include the latest two published editions of relevant codes when reviewing for natural disaster mitigation. But that definition sunset in October.

If the building code definition is left to expire, FEMA will revert the definition to the single latest edition of codes when reviewing state, local and tribal Hazard Mitigation Plans.

The bill would require FEMA to allow home builders and municipalities to abide by rules published in the two latest editions of building codes, rather than just the single latest edition, when developing their Hazard Mitigation Plans, inspecting homes or building a house.

The original text of the Disaster Recovery Reform Act was meant to provide flexibility to governments, developers, builders and home owners, and H.R. 5473 would re-establish that flexibility. Building codes can change dramatically from cycle-to-cycle, so having the option to use more than one can save time and money.

A vote on H.R. 5473 is scheduled for Dec. 11. Contact Congress now and tell them to pass this important update.