UpCodes aims to make researching building codes, regulations easier through searchable app

A startup called UpCodes wants to make code compliance easier for architects and builders through a new app.

The app, which is accessible on mobile devices, enables users to search building codes of 40 states and New York City. It puts building regulations from multiple jurisdictions in one place and includes collaboration tools so team members can research and share notes on projects.

The tools allow users to hyperlink to sections of code and create project folders that they can share with other team members. Saving project notes can help firms build institutionalized knowledge that can be accessed while working on future projects, UpCodes says.

New York City has two very large buildings dedicated to answering the 911 calls of its five boroughs. With more than 11 million emergency calls annually, it makes perfect sense. The second of these buildings, the Public Safety Answering Center II (PSAC II) is located on a nine-acre parcel of land in the Bronx. It’s an imposing 450,000 square-foot structure—a 240-foot-wide by 240-foot-tall cube. The gleaming aluminum cube risesthe equivalent of 24 stories from behind a grassy berm, projecting the unlikely impression that it might actually be floating. Like most visually striking structures, the building has drawn as much scorn as it has admiration.