Building codes provide quality control for life safety and technical matters. In order to be safe and technically sound, a building must protect its inhabitants from several natural elements. This emphasis on protection inadvertently implies a bias for surface integrity in construction. Although the building process may begin with small units such as bricks, panels, and other prefabricated components, the protection must result in continuous wrappings. The many layers of a building's protective skin are much like clothing. Understanding this implication is key to achieving sensitive design within the confines of a code.

There are many hazardous and uncomfortable elements from which a building is designed to guard its occupants. These elements are defined and quantified by the building code, and, according to the degree of danger or discomfort, are remedied by a particular surface wrapping. The structural skeleton is clothed to suit the anticipated conditions.