AGENCY RATES BUILDING CODES; LOWER INSURANCE COSTS MAY RESULT

An indirect result of Hurricane Andrew may be lower homeowner insurance rates on new homes in Cape Girardeau.

In the aftermath of the hurricane, Insurance Services Office Inc., an organization that serves 1,500 insurance companies nationwide, decided to rate building codes and their enforcement in individual communities and give the information to its members to use in setting rates.

According to ISO figures, one-quarter of the $16 billion in insured losses from the hurricane was a result of construction that failed to meet building codes.

The ISO just released its rating for Cape Girardeau: It is 5 on a scale where 1 is best and 10 means no code enforcement at all.

"A 5 represents a good grade," said Christopher Guidette of the ISO. "Overall, the community of Cape Girardeau adheres to a nationally recognized building code."

He said the rating does indicate areas that can be improved, although he wouldn't specify which ones.

"It won't cause any rates to go up," Guidette said. "It could lower some."

Rick Murray, inspection services director for Cape Girardeau, said he is pleased with the rating. He hadn't seen the report, however.

He said he intends to use the report to make improvements in the inspection process and ask the ISO to re-evaluate his department earlier than the required five years.

Guidette said it is too early to compare Cape Girardeau's rating with the rest of the country because most cities haven't been evaluated yet. The process started in 1995 in Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina, states among the most vulnerable to hurricanes. The organization covered most of the remaining Gulf and Atlantic Coast states in 1996, and expects to complete its first go-round by 2000.

The ISO bases the ratings largely on the code each jurisdiction uses, how effectively it administers them, how well trained its inspectors are, its licensing of contractors, how well it reviews building plans, its staffing levels and the quality of the inspections.

ISO had every inspector fill out a questionnaire. In February it sent field representatives to see how the inspectors worked in the field.

The ISO pays particular attention to the way each jurisdiction tries to minimize potential losses from catastrophes, especially hurricanes and earthquakes. The insurance industry considers a natural disaster that causes at least $25 million in damages to be a catastrophe.

Murray said Cape Girardeau has tried to make its building code effective against earthquake damage, "except we don't have the actual experience."

Cape Girardeau's code includes standards for resistance to wind and snow loads, he said. The city adheres to one of the three recognized standard building codes: the Building Officials and Code Administrators or BOCA code.

Unlike many nearby communities, Cape Girardeau requires builders to sit down with a review panel including an inspector, an engineer and an architect before they get a building permit, Murray said. He said that helps catch potential problems before construction begins.

The rating will only apply to buildings built when the rating is in effect. If Cape Girardeau gets a different rating the next time the ISO evaluates it, it won't affect the structures built when the 5 was in effect and will only affect those built under the new rating. Individual insurers will determine whether to use the ratings to set their rates.

The ISO has been rating fire protection on a similar scale for years. Cape Girardeau's fire rating is four. Only a handful of departments in Missouri have ratings of 3 or less.