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History of Code Design

Modern building codes in the United States date back to Boston in 1872, which specified that no house was allowed to have a thatched roof or wooden chimney, in an attempt to prevent fires from starting and spreading.
The first comprehensive building codes began in 1915 with Building Officials and Code Administrators International National Building Code (BOCA), followed in 1927 by the International Conference of Building Officials’ Uniform Building Code (UBC) and the Southern Building Code Conference International’s Standard Building Code (SBC) in 1945. Each of these codes was primarily used in its own region throughout the United States: BOCA was primarily northeastern and north central, SBC was used in the southern regions, and UBC was used in the West and Central regions.
These three agencies combined in the late 1990s to make the International Code Council which publishes the International Building Code (IBC), as well as various affiliated documents collectively known as the I-codes.

Codes History: Image
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