A brief history of building codes as they relate to health and safety

Way back when, there were REALLY basic building codes.  King Hammurabi created the first known building codes in Babylon, in 1758 BC.  Here are a few of his rules, per lexology.com

229 If a builder builds a house for someone, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built falls in and kills its owner, then that builder shall be put to death.
230 If it kills the son of the owner, the son of that builder shall be put to death.
231 If it kills a slave of the owner, then he shall pay, slave for slave, to the owner of the house.
232 If it ruins goods, he shall make compensation for all that has been ruined, and inasmuch as he did not construct properly this house which he built and it fell, he shall re-erect the house from his own means.
233 If a builder builds a house for someone, even though he has not yet completed it; if then the walls seem toppling, the builder must make the walls solid from his own means.

These early building codes, along with many of ours today, focus on health and safety.  Many building code updates and revisions have been in reaction to disasters such as fires, floods, earthquakes and hurricanes.

After  9/11, changes were made to the codes for high rise building to provide additional stairways, better emergency exit lightning and specific exit paths.

Following Hurricane Andrew, Florida made some changes to their building code, requiring stronger and more impact resistant glass, and minimum design loads, especially with regard to wind resistance.

And after the Northridge earthquake, owners of concrete tilt-ip buildings had to complete mandatory retrofits on certain welds that were considered of lesser quality.   

Over the years, many states and municipalities enacted their own building codes.  As a matter of fact, it wasn't until 2008 that New York adopted the International Building code.

Why am I talking about building codes now?  It looks as though group living may be putting people at higher COVID-19 risk, whether it be room mate situations, care facilities, prisons, dormitories and even apartments and condominiums.  

Here in Portland, we've been moving toward more dense housing.  Tiny houses, accessory dwelling units (stand alone or basement/attic units), micro-housing and co-housing can be seen in the metro area .  Even condominiums and apartments have more common elements; bike rooms, roof decks, common rooms and gyms.

How do you practice social distancing when there isn't enough room?

Will we see a move away from common entry buildings?  Will multi-unit buildings with distinct exterior entries for each unit prevail?  And will these changes be per building codes, or market forces fueled by consumer preference?