Land Use Planning and Development Regulation Law, Essay Example

Regulation of the size of buildings

The regulation of buildings is an integral facet to sustainable urban development. Building regulation are used to regulate a number of facets of a building including the size of the building. Every given urban center has a department that is responsible for planning and development of the area (Juergensmeyer & Roberts, 2013). This department is responsible for the regulation of the size, location and use of lands and buildings in territory that is unincorporated.

Private Development Regulation Codes

A city’s leadership and management can employ building regulation codes that determines the sizes of the plots to be issued and the sizes of the buildings to be erected. These regulation codes will ensure that the appropriate and most ideal sizes of structures are put up to ensure optimal urban development. Any investors interested in developing in an area governed by a development regulation code has to adhere to those codes or otherwise risk denial of a construction permit by City Managemen (Chudley & Greeno, 2013)t. These private development regulation codes are developed by private and/or not-for-profit institutions. These development regulation codes are then made available to local authorities for adoption.

Zoning Codes

A city’s management can employ zoning codes to regulate the sizes of buildings within its extraterritorial jurisdiction. Zoning codes divide an urban area’s territory into different functional areas that have different specifications as to the types and sizes of buildings. These zoning codes are developed, managed, updated and enforced by the city’s planning and development department.

Deed Restriction

This is a form of regulation where an owner of a given property places restriction on all prospective future owners of the property in terms of the kind of development that can take place within that land. These restriction are attached to a given title deed and an owner acquires these restriction on acquiring the title deed (Chudley & Greeno, 2013). Deed restriction is essential in determining the type, and therefore the size of the building(s) to be constructed on a given piece of land.

Purpose of Regulation of Sizes of Buildings

• Optimal Performance: the size of a building determines the amount of strain that the building places on support services such as drainage and electricity. By regulating the sizes of buildings, local authorities can effectively manage the support services.
• Fire Hazards: the size of a building determines the types of fire hazards that its users are exposed to. Owing to the different uses of buildings, the size of the buildings influences the degree of exposure to fire that a building’s users are exposed to.

Model Building Codes and Standard Building Codes

Model building codes are developed by private, and at times not-for-profit organizations. These building codes are developed based on a given criteria that is predetermined. These criteria encompass the development plan and vision that the urban area would wish to take. These codes are then made available to local authorities for adoption.

Standard Building Codes

Standard building codes are developed by local authorities in a bid to manage and govern the development within an urban are. These codes defines the basic and fundamental standards to be used in the construction of buildings within a given area, so as to achieve efficiency and optimal performance. Standard building codes merely define the sizes of structures to be developed, leaving the specifications of the use to the developer.

References

Chudley, R., & Greeno, R. (2013). Building Construction Handbook. London: Routledge.

Juergensmeyer, J. C., & Roberts, T. E. (2013). Land Use Planning and Development Regulation Law. St. Paul: West.