By Leila Merrill
FireRescue1
WASHINGTON — For the third year in a row, President Joe Biden declared that May is National Building Safety Month.
An April 28 White House news release bearing Biden’s signature reads:
“From planning and design to construction and renovation, many buildings are safer today than they were decades ago. But nearly two-thirds of Americans live in communities that have not yet adopted the latest building codes, which are designed to avoid damages and keep emerging threats like climate change from further devastating communities with increasingly powerful fires, floods, and storms. We need to do more to help everyone prepare for and prevent disasters; to promote building safety; and to support our too-often overlooked engineers, construction workers, and code enforcement inspectors, who do so much every day to keep Americans safe.
My Administration has taken major steps in that direction. Last year, we launched a new National Initiative to Advance Building Codes, designed to help State, local, Tribal, and territorial governments adopt the latest building standards. With our once-in-a-generation infrastructure law, we are rebuilding the Nation’s roads, bridges, ports, water systems, and more; we are investing over $50 billion to weatherize American homes and to help protect communities against droughts, heat, and floods; and we are replacing toxic lead pipes in 10 million homes and 400,000 schools or child care centers so every American can turn on the faucet and drink clean water. We are also investing in training workers to meet and enforce new standards.”
In the release, Biden encourages Americans to routinely check their smoke alarm batteries, appliances, vents and plumbing and to watch out for pests and mold. He added that residents of wildfire-prone areas should take precautions, such as clearing debris away from their homes.