Bloomberg Unveils Building Code

Officials are finished with a three-year revision of the city's building code, Mayor Bloomberg announced yesterday.

The new code provides incentives for green building and design, and requires more efficient heating and cooling systems.

It stipulates additional safety requirements for new buildings, including a provision for smoke detectors to be hardwired in certain new construction projects, and requires automatic sprinklers to be installed in some single- and two-family homes, in addition to apartment buildings. Mr. Bloomberg said the revisions to the building code, which had been virtually untouched since 1968, is going to make new construction less expensive in the city.

The new code will have to be approved by the City Council before it goes into effect.