JUNE 1, 2015 LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, JUNE 1, 2015, 9:57 AM
BY MARK KRULISH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
In conjunction with Building Safety Month events that happened all over the United States, the Ridgewood Building Department staff presented a public forum in May, which focused on home safety along with changes being implemented within the village.
Over the course of about two hours, Building Department Director Thomas Yotka presented the audience with a history of building codes, demonstrating how they have evolved over the course of the past 2,000 years, before bringing the conversation back to the new initiatives happening in Ridgewood.
Oftentimes, changes in building codes happened in reaction to major disasters such as the Cocoanut Grove fire in Boston in 1942 and the Station Nightclub in Rhode Island in 2003.
Up until the mid-1970s, each municipality had its own unique set of building codes. Then in 1975, the legislature wrote a new law that went into effect on Jan. 1, 1977, bringing uniformity to codes throughout New Jersey.
These codes are what give the Building Department the blueprint to ensure that any structure standing within the village is safe for occupancy.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/director-details-changes-in-village-state-1.1346422
