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A seemingly obvious solution to improve resilience of built structures facing natural hazards is enhanced structural integrity. One program designed to achieve this is the building code effectiveness grading schedule (BCEGS) which rates communities on the strength and enforcement of local building codes. However, little is known on how well this program has fared in terms of community participation. The purpose of this study is to use the BCEGS program in Florida (a hurricane at-risk state) to provide tangible evidence of whether participatory achievement occurred and identify characteristics that predict high performance in the program.

Data is used from the Insurance Services Office, a division of Verisk Analytics to compare characteristics of communities with high levels of participation to communities with lower levels of participation. This is done using descriptive statistics and regression models.

Communities more likely to have high BCEGS ratings are more urban, have higher wealth and a younger, more educated population. Discussed also is the role risk exposure and public policy play in both maintaining higher ratings and overall improvement in BCEGS ratings across time.

Identifying what motivates communities to enhance their construction standards is a useful tool in attracting interest to enhance resilience. The results show that resilience can be improved by public policy initiatives and knowledge by communities of their risk profile.

BCEGS data is proprietary, so no study of this type has been conducted on what motivates communities to adopt higher standards in the strength and enforcement of local building codes.