As we continue to highlight Building Safety Week here at BDS, and across America, I came across this story about the early American settlers and how they helped to transform building tools and techniques.

Throughout the centuries, builders adapted their techniques to their surroundings.  For example, New England colonists used poles, stones and string to help them set posts upright and deep into the ground.  During the long, frigid winters, frost heaves would forcibly move posts that were not set deeply enough as the ground froze and thawed.

Gradually, each town learned to set posts to a depth below the frost line, the point below which the ground remained unfrozen.  Accrued experience guided construction efforts so successfully that a number of those original houses are still standing today.  Much of that expertise became part of the local building code.

Building Safety Week was first observed in 1980 and is sponsored by the International Code Council.  The ICC is an organization that is dedicated to lessening the devastating effects of natural disasters and other building tragedies worldwide by promoting ideas, methods, and technologies which encourage the construction of durable buildings and homes.

The Bureau of Development Services is an active member of the International Code Council, which also develops building codes used throughout the country as well as in many foreign countries.

Be sure to check out the BDS Blog tomorrow as Building Safety Week comes to a close to find out why you should take a close look around your home and neighborhood this coming weekend!

Alisa Cour
Public Information Manager