Building Code Index May Help Supply Chain Managers With Global Site Selection

International shippers in retail and manufacturing sectors may tap into new market intelligence on the regulatory landscape, spokesmen for FM Global announced today.

The commercial and industrial property insurance company has just published its 2015 FM Global Country Building Codes Index, calling it the “first ever” resource yet to be made available to date.

Produced in cooperation with the National Fire Protection Association, it serves as a companion to the newly FM Global Resiliance Index.

As reported in SCMR earlier this spring the Resiliance Index rates the supply chain resilience of 130 countries and territories.

“Until now, there’s been no unified index of building codes,” says Paris Stavrianidis, vice president and manager of FM Approvals and international codes and standards. “This is a step forward to bring together the codes we know of in one place, including previously hard-to-find information. It also provides helpful confirmation that a few countries have no known national building code.”

The FM Global Country Building Codes Index, to be updated annually, is designed to help companies that are building or retrofitting facilities to quickly and easily discover the most recent country building codes in their target regions and gain new context around construction and fire risk. For example, a company designing 15 new distribution centers around the world can use the index to understand differing national guidelines and make informed construction decisions accordingly.


“Building codes vary dramatically around the world,” says Donald Bliss, vice president of field operations for NFPA. “Some countries have strict codes, while others have none. Some codes are grounded in engineering research while others are perceived as more arbitrary.”