Frank V. Gonzalez speaks with USA Today about residential buildings codes.

Is your residential building up to code?

Trying to find residential building codes for your local area can be a daunting process. Most homeowners and condominium unit owners aren’t familiar with the steps needed to research and investigate building codes.

Being proactive with the inspections of your residential building is one of the best ways to ensure your building is up to code. This might mean working closely with your property manager, attending condominium board meetings regularly, and/or becoming a board member yourself.

Going to your state code office and reading the codebook can be overwhelming. Instead, we recommend you start by contacting your condo building board or building manager. Ask them if they know if the property is up to code. If they do not know, ask if they work with an architect or engineer that you may call. Another option is to contact your local municipal building department and ask to speak with an inspector. You should provide the inspector with the address of the building, type of building (high or low residential or commercial or both).

It helps to have gathered as much information as you can before calling the building department. Information like the name of the builder, the building construction completion date, and the age of the structure will be needed.

Consider asking the following questions of your condo board, the building architect or engineer, and/or your local municipal building department:

1. Based on the current records, is the building up to code?

2. Does my building have violations?

3. Has the building met all the required inspections by the municipality?

4. Is the building up to Fire Code requirements?

5. Is the fire sprinkler system being inspected per local building code requirements?

6. Are the elevators inspected annually, and are they up to code?

7. Are the exterior facades being inspected as per municipality ordinance to ensure public safety?

Please keep in mind that the building codes specify a minimum requirement for buildings. That does not mean you should not exceed them.

Rather than you being the investigator and tracking down this information yourself, you can hire an architect or engineer to the research for you. These professionals know the correct channels and sources to gather this data.