Outdated and redundant building codes plague St. Louis area development

Local governments in St. Louis County, Mo. have outdated and redundant building codes that frustrate commercial and residential developers, according to a report by St. Louis REALTORS.

The report focused on commercial and residential codes and electrical, mechanical, and property maintenance. It found that no single list compiled building codes for the county.

The report examined 42 codebooks from 89 communities totaling nearly 17,000 pages. The St. Louis region’s combined codes are nearly double the length of the Internal Revenue Service Code, dwarfing the optimal length of a consistent countywide code, which should total around 3,000 pages, the report says.

The report outlined several potential solutions. One option would be for a countywide vote to approve a consistent standard, but the authors noted a similar proposal was rejected by voters 50 years ago.