Proceedings of: Workshop on Improving Building Design for Persons with Low Vision

Importance of Codes

I think it’s important to know that codes are not bad. I can’t tell you how helpful codes have been through the years. I think we should get away from the idea that they’re not good. There are so many mistakes we could have made over the years if we had not had codes. And I remember when I first moved to Michigan, I would go to this meeting. And I walked across the carpet in Michigan, which can be very cold and very [dry; I was] shocked out of my mind. And I’m thinking, “Somebody didn’t think at all about code,” you know, the static electricity in carpeting.

There are all kinds of codes that really are helpful. I taught building specifications for commercial interiors. I tried to tell them, “Codes are really your friend. It helps you so much [to specify the] right thing and to know what to ask suppliers and manufacturers [about] materials that you’re going to use.