The California State University system conducted a study to identify the cumulative escalation impact of changes to the buildings codes over the past 30 years, focusing specifically on the cost impact to university campus buildings.

The study concluded that over time, code changes had increased the cost of construction for university projects by roughly 1% per annum (in addition to normal construction cost escalation), and a prospective look into the future indicated that this trend is likely to continue. Based on these results, the California State University system worked to reset its long term benchmarking data which was used in setting building budgets.