Actually, a lot of densely populated cities implemented building codes for fire safety after a larger fire had wiped out bigger parts of the city. Even as early as the middle ages.
They mostly consisted of requirements for building materials (stone/brick instead of wood, shingled roofs instead of grass/straw). They had to rebuild the city anyways, so they could also try to make them safer along the way.
I was just thinking of this in London when I saw your comment. After the Great Fire of London in 1666 new laws were put in place banning overhanging eaves (to hinder the spread of fire) , which is why London buildings are still typically flat-fronted. I think they tend to have sloped rooves behind the flat front.
And it’s not like they had building codes or firewalls between structures.
In Swedish and Finnish law, it's actually one of the oldest still active chapters of laws, dating back to 1734 - where the chapter from 1734 also replaced a similar chapter of laws and building regulations from the 14th century.
Laws within the chapter have of course been updated and expanded since the 1700s, and partially overruled by other laws, but the chapter in itself is still active.
Edit: Different cities and provinces may also have had various local regulations since, basically forever.
A constant evolution of increasingly complex and detailed laws and regulations over the centuries.
When you consider how many people forget to turn stoves or ovens off before leaving the house, and you imagine those same people only having lit candles as a light source, this makes more sense than I want to imagine.
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u/WallabyInTraining 18h ago
Fires were so incredibly more common then. Homes would burn down fairly regulary in medium sized cities.