Building Code Adoption Tracking, also referred to as Building Code Adoption Tracking System (BCATS). BCAT information is based on ISO Building Code Effectiveness Grading Schedule (BCEGS) data and supplemented by FEMA Building Science Branch research. BCEGS is a program administered by ISO which evaluates building departments in jurisdictions across the country pertaining to their building code adoption and enforcement. There are five bureau states (i.e., HI, ID, LA, MS, WA) which do not participate in the BCEGS.
Building Code Adoption Tracking Glossary
Building Code Effectiveness Grading Schedule, a program administered by ISO which evaluates building departments in jurisdictions across the country pertaining to their building code adoption and enforcement and grades them on a scale of 1 to 10. There are five bureau states (i.e., HI, ID, LA, MS, WA) which do not participate in the BCEGS.
A jurisdiction is damaging wind resistant if it has high damaging wind risk and the 2018 or later IBC and IRC apply within the jurisdiction without weakening of any of the wind provisions.
Emergency Management Assistance Compact, an interstate mutual aid agreement which all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands have passed. The Compact contains 13 articles establishing a mutual aid system with, among other elements, provisions for jurisdictions to share their resources with one another during emergencies, give and receive reimbursement for shared resources, and give and receive liability protection for their officers and employees rendering aid in another jurisdiction.
A jurisdiction is flood resistant if it has high flood risk, it participates in the National Flood Insurance Program in good standing, and the 2018 or later IBC and IRC apply in the jurisdiction without weakening of any of the flood provisions.
A jurisdiction has hazard risk, or one-or-more hazards risk, or disaster risk, if it has high flood, hurricane, tornado, damaging wind, or seismic risk.
A jurisdiction is hazard resistant if it has high one-or-more hazards risk and the 2018 or later IBC and IRC apply within the jurisdiction without the weakening of any provisions related to any of the hazards for which the jurisdiction has high risk, and the jurisdiction participates in the NFIP in good standing if it has high flood risk.
This refers to the 2018 or later IBC and IRC, without any amendments that weaken hazard-resistant provisions related to any hazards which for which the jurisdiction has high risk.
A jurisdiction has high damaging wind risk if it is located outside of the hurricane prone region and in an area where the basic design wind speed, V, is 90 mph or greater for Risk Category II buildings for a 3-second gust measured at 33 feet in Exposure C, as shown in 2021 IBC Figure 1609.3(1).
A jurisdiction has high flood risk if it selected the natural hazards boxes for Floods, Riverine or Coastal conditions on the BCEGS questionnaire, or if it has been mapped in the NFIP as having a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA).
A jurisdiction has high hurricane wind risk if it is within the hurricane prone region defined in the 2021 IBC, Ch. 2, as: (1) the U.S. Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico coasts where the basic wind speed, V, for Risk Category II buildings is greater than 115 mph; and (2) Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, Virgin Islands and American Samoa, and in the 2021 IRC, Ch. 2, as: areas vulnerable to hurricanes, defined as the U.S. Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico coasts where the ultimate design wind speed, Vult, is greater than 115 mph, and Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, Virgin Islands, and American Samoa.
A jurisdiction has high seismic risk if it is located in a county which is categorized in the 2021 IBC for Risk Category II as having a design spectral response acceleration at short-periods (SDS) greater than or equal to 0.5g based on the most conservative of site class C or D, or as having a design spectral response acceleration at long-periods (SD1), greater than or equal to 0.2g, or was mapped in the 2021 IRC as having high or very high earthquake risk (Seismic Design Category D0, D1, D2, and E for residential buildings).
A jurisdiction has high tornado risk if it is located in an area where the shelter design wind speed for tornadoes is 250 MPH in accordance with Figure 304.2(1) of ICC 500®.
Defined in the 2021IBC as:
- The U.S. Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico coasts where the basic design wind speed, V, for Risk Category II buildings is greater than 115 mph (51.4m/s);
- Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, Virgin Islands, and American Samoa.
A jurisdiction is hurricane wind resistant if it has high hurricane wind risk and the 2018 or later IBC and IRC apply within the jurisdiction without weakening of any of the hurricane wind provisions.
The family of International Codes published by ICC which includes the IBC and IRC, and several other model codes such as the IEBC, the International Energy Conservation Code, the International Mechanical Code, the International Plumbing Code, the International Wildland-Urban Interface Code, and more.
International Building Code, a model building code published by ICC and updated with a new edition every three years.
International Code Council
International Existing Building Code, a model building code for existing buildings, published by ICC and updated with a new edition every three years
Intrastate Mutual Aid Compact, an arrangement among jurisdictions within a state or territory which establishes a system for the sharing of emergency response resources after a disaster. IMAC is similar to EMAC, except that IMAC is focused on mutual aid within a state or territory, and EMAC is focused on mutual aid between states and territories.
International Residential Code, a model residential construction code published by ICC and updated with a new edition every three years
Insurance Services Office, a subsidiary of Verisk Analytics and the publisher and administrator of BCEGS.
The common name for the area, with defined political boundaries, which is served by the building department. Jurisdictions are usually incorporated locations, recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau. Jurisdictions include, but are not limited to, cities, towns, townships, boroughs, villages, counties, and parishes.
National Flood Insurance Program. Any jurisdiction which has high flood risk and does not participate in the NFIP will not be considered a resistant jurisdiction.
No Special Flood Hazard Area, an area that has been determined to lack any special flood hazard area, and is not considered to have high flood risk in the BCAT data.
A statewide or territory-wide IMAC system where the political subdivisions of a state or territory are not members of the system until they take action to join the system.
A statewide or territory-wide IMAC system where the political subdivisions of a state or territory are automatically members of the system unless they take action to exit the system
A unit of government created by and under the authority of a higher level of government. If a state divides itself up into counties, the counties are political subdivisions of the state. If those counties divide themselves up into county subdivisions, the county subdivisions are political subdivisions of the counties, which are in turn political subdivisions of the state.
In BCAT usage, “political subdivision” typically to refers to any type of jurisdiction within a state or territory, but not including the state or territory itself.
A tracked jurisdiction where:
- The 2018 or later IBC and IRC are adopted, and the codes are not weakened for high-risk hazards in the jurisdiction.
- If the jurisdiction has high flood risk, it must also participate in the NFIP in good standing.
A jurisdiction is seismic resistant if it has high seismic risk and has the 2018 or later IBC without weakening of any of the seismic provisions, or the jurisdiction has residential high seismic risk and has the 2018 or later IRC without weakening of any of the seismic provisions.
A jurisdiction is tornado resistant if it has high tornado risk and the 2018 or later IBC applies within the jurisdiction with IBC Sections 423.3 and 423.4 not weakened by amendment.
Any jurisdiction tracked within BCAT that participates in BCEGS or is evaluated for BCAT through FEMA research.
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