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In a bid to make buildings more energy-efficient and resilient to extreme weather, the administration on Wednesday will award $90 million in grants to help cities, states, tribes and organizations implement stronger codes for new and renovated construction, according to details shared first with The Washington Post. The announcement Tuesday reflects the policy limitations that Biden faces. Building codes are adopted at the state and local levels, so the federal government is limited in what it can require. And with Republicans in control of the House of Representatives, Congress is unlikely to impose any new national requirements. These constraints have...

I'm looking for some input from knowledgeable folks here on FreeRepublic about an interesting matter a friend of mine is dealing with. He owns a commercial building with a wet sprinkler system, and a tenant is looking to install a lot of new electronic/IT equipment in one room. The building code requires the sprinklers, but there's an obvious risk to expensive electronic equipment (and maybe an elevated risk of electrocution for staff and firefighters) if the sprinklers are activated in a fire. The obvious solution would be to remove the sprinkler heads in that particular room, but this is not...

BEIJING — A medicine mogul spent six years building his own private mountain peak and luxury villa atop a high-rise apartment block in China’s capital, earning the unofficial title of “most outrageous illegal structure.” Now, authorities are giving him 15 days to tear it down. The craggy complex of rooms, rocks, trees and bushes looming over the 26-story building looks like something built into a seaside cliff, and has become the latest symbol of disregard for the law among the rich as well as the rampant practice of building illegal additions. Angry neighbors say they’ve complained for years that the...

A blaze that ripped through a problem-plagued Chinatown building in New York on Thursday — injuring a dozen people, two critically — was apparently sparked by roach bombs being “improperly used,” a police source said. The 12:45 p.m. explosion occurred at the rear of a first-floor hair salon at 17 Pike St., where fire investigators found boxes of Raid fumigating foggers and Decon bug bombs, a police source told the Daily News. The source said the bug bombs were being “improperly used” when the explosion happened inside the Piao Liang Ren Scheng Beauty Salon, causing the fire and a minor...

A New York town has agreed to drop criminal charges against an Amish community that had balked at following modern building codes for their homes by adding such features as bigger windows and smoke detectors — something the traditional sect members argued violate its religious beliefs. The case tested the boundaries of First Amendment freedoms versus the rights of government to enforce its rules, and both sides made concessions in a settlement. Morristown, N.Y., officials agreed that some Amish building methods did meet the rules, while the Amish agreed to forgo some techniques that didn’t live up to standards. On...

When Alan Ayres set out to construct a second-story addition to a downtown building for a new brewpub, he figured it would be a fairly straightforward job. But after his second plan review, he got an official letter. Because his design for a rooftop deck jutted out several feet over the public right of way, he was going to need special permission from the city — and a lease to use public airspace.

Perry: Proposed Federal Building Codes Will Hurt Job Creation, Home Prices, Homebuilders and Homeowners PEMBROKE, NH – Texas Gov. Rick Perry today took his presidential campaign to Epoch Homes in Pembroke, New Hampshire. He toured the facility and took questions from employees, renewing his call for a six-month freeze on federal regulations. Additionally, he specifically criticized proposed federal mandates being considered by the U.S. Senate that would enable federal takeover of local building codes. “If there’s one area that government needs to get out of the way, it’s in regulation,” said Gov. Perry. “With too many American homeowners and homebuilders...

It's the roar that made Milwaukee famous — the distinctive throaty rumble of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. But that much-loved racket could be rumbling away to another state if the company cannot bring down its labor costs. Harley-Davidson warned employees in April that it will move its Wisconsin manufacturing operations elsewhere if it cannot cut millions of dollars at the factories that build the bikes known as "Milwaukee Iron." Harley's corporate headquarters would remain here, but that's small consolation to a community that has already endured repeated blows to its civic identity. Loading stock quotes… Index Last Change HOG 27.84 +0.45...

The running joke [me - it's a real knee slapper] in Washington is that nobody has read the 900-plus-page energy bill sponsored by Reps. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), which the House will consider in coming weeks. . . . In fact, the bill also contains regulations on everything from light bulb standards to the specs on hot tubs, and it will reshape America's economy in dozens of ways that many don't realize. Here is just one: The bill would give the federal government power over local building codes.

Gov. Mark Sanford on Monday assured the U.S. Department of Energy that South Carolina will consider improving efficiency-related building codes and utility policies, in a letter that opened the door to $50.5 million in energy-related stimulus funds for the state. In order to receive a share of State Energy Program stimulus money, governors were required to provide written assurances by Monday that they would consider such policies. In South Carolina, a House bill already has been introduced to bring the state's energy-related building codes, which date to the 1990s, up to the modern standards used in North Carolina and Georgia....

College students face high rent, dangerous overcrowding 10/23/2004, 11:33 a.m. ET The Associated Press A few years ago, Mike VanConant and his two roommates, all Michigan State University students, invited three extra people to live in their six-bedroom rental home to cut costs. But that violated city regulations that limited the number of people that could live in the home to three and everyone living there was slapped with a $259 fine. "It's worth over-occupying in East Lansing considering the price of rent here," VanConant told the Lansing State Journal for a Saturday story. He moved out after receiving the...

CAPTIVA - The ritzy barrier islands that Hurricane Charley pummeled first before raging across the state appear to have survived far better than their neighbors farther inland. Although damage assessments had yet to be completed for the islands Sunday night, Lee County officials said they were confident that damage could be repaired and the islands could recover their identity as an idyllic vacation getaway. "Nearly all (buildings) had some damage, but it was varying degrees, because these are big homes and well-put-together homes," said Pat O'Rourke, spokeswoman for the Lee County Emergency Operations Center. "It's a matter of the integrity...

Hundreds of people were left to die inside a blazing supermarket after security staff locked doors to prevent customers from running out without paying, it emerged today. Initial reports suggested as many as 340 people were killed when the fire tore through a large shopping centre in the Paraguayan capital of Asuncion after an industrial propane tank exploded. Police have charged the store's owner Juan Pio Paiva and his son Daniel with homicide after they allegedly ordered security personnel to lock down every exit. Firefighters had to batter down the locked main entrance to the complex before they could reach...

UNDATED - People who live in apartments or condos might want to grill their burgers sooner rather than later, because outdoor barbecues will be banned on the decks of many buildings across the state beginning July 1. Beginning July 1, new building codes prohibit the use of open-flame gas or charcoal barbecues around balconies unless there is a sprinkler overhead. The rules apply to multifamily residential buildings, which are defined as three or more attached units. The changes come from a new 600-page International Building Code, which merges the country's three regional building codes. Washington state's Legislature approved adoption of...

People who live in apartments or condos might want to grill their burgers sooner rather than later, because outdoor barbecues will be banned on the decks of many buildings across the state beginning July 1. Beginning July 1, new building codes prohibit the use of open-flame gas or charcoal barbecues around balconies unless there is a sprinkler overhead. The rules apply to multifamily residential buildings, which are defined as three or more attached units. The changes come from a new 600-page International Building Code, which merges the country's three regional building codes. Washington state's Legislature approved adoption of the new...

(CNSNews.com) - Attorney Johnnie Cochran, who successfully defended accused killer O.J. Simpson, says he is representing at least seven families who lost relatives in Sunday night's Chicago nightclub fire, and he says he doesn't care if that offends black leaders who are rallying around the nightclub's owner. Speaking on National Public Radio's Tavis Smiley show, Cochran called the nightclub stampede a "tragedy that need not have happened." According to Cochran, "There is enough blame and enough fault to go around for everybody." He believes the nightclub owners and the city both bear some responsibility. "There are so many things that...

Those Suing Over Nightclub Fire May Not Find Any Deep Pockets An investigator sifts through the ashes of The Station nightclub in West Warwick, R.I., on Saturday. It burned down Feb. 20, killing 97.(Robert E. Klein/The Associated Press) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS     PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- As families of the dead and injured struggle with their grief after one of the country's deadliest fires, some are starting to look for compensation. Lawyers say it won't come easily.     Rhode Island lawyers estimate at least $1 billion worth of lawsuit claims will be filed in the coming months. But they're not as...

Great White Testifies, Gets Sued Tuesday was a busy day for Great White--and the band's lawyers. Members of the '80s heavy metal outfit finally began testifying before a Rhode Island grand jury and faced the first of what is likely many wrongful-death lawsuits blaming the band in part for the deadly nightclub fire two weeks ago. The families of two of the victims are suing both Great White and club owners Jeffrey and Michael Derderian, claiming they're responsible for the inferno that killed 98 people and injured close to 200--one of the worst blazes in the U.S. in more than...

The investigation into Thursday's catastrophic fire in West Warwick broadened yesterday with a law enforcement official saying police had searched the home of a co-owner of The Station nightclub and subpoenaed three members of the band Great White. Ninety-seven concertgoers died Thursday night and 187 were injured when the band's opening fireworks sparked one of the worst nightclub fires in U.S. history. Law enforcement sources said that state police and West Warwick investigators had searched the Narragansett home of Michael Derderian on Sunday and seized records relating to the club. Investigators also seized and impounded the band's tour bus. They...