With New York City’s updated building code limiting the use of EIFS in new buildings, we sat down with EIMA CEO Stephen Sears, Adams & Reese Partner Trent Cotney and Bill Egan Group President Bill Egan to discuss the effects the new rules will have on contractors.
“In some cases, [the updated building code] has made [using EIFS] more challenging and more difficult and potentially more costly,” Sears said.
So far, New York City is the only place that this is affected, but it goes farther than EIFS. The updated building code affects other materials as well. “The first thing I wanted to make a little bit clear is that this relates not just to EIFS, but to any combustible material,” Egan said.
Even though the new rules are limited to one city for now, there could be more changes coming, Cotney warned. He said contractors should make sure they are following contracts precisely and working with manufacturers and design professionals to verify everything is correct.
Links to NYC documents we went over today
- https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/buildings/bldgs_bulletins/bb_2022-013.pdf
- https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/buildings/bldgs_bulletins/bb_2022-013_highlights.pdf
- 2022BC_Chapter14_ExteriorWallsWBwm.pdf (nyc.gov) (This is the chapter in the code that deals with EIFS)
Links to Local Law 97 materials – the climate items I mentioned
- Local Law 97 - Sustainable Buildings (nyc.gov) (what I read today)
- LinkedIn on EIFS New Construction in NYC
- LinkedIn post on EIFS Retrofit in NYC
Links to EIMA on the web
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