New Jersey first to adopt code for older buildings

New Jersey was the first state to adopt a separate building code for older buildings, according to John Patella, senior policy advisor with the Department of Community Affairs. In the first year of the code, 1998, rehabilitation work in the state’s cities rose by 60 percent. The code was developed around the premise that older building features — such as stairs, corridors, and doorways — that do not meet today’s standards should not automatically be replaced. “The rehab code says, in effect, let’s make these building safe instead of trying to make them like new,” Patella says. Dozens of jurisdictions around the country have contacted New Jersey for information on its new approach to codes, and the City of Wilmington, Delaware, recently approved a code modeled on New Jersey’s, Patella says.