ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- Despite outcry by thousands of homeowners, there will be no change in state building codes. A new plan could have protected new homes from the kind of water damage thousands sustained this hurricane season.

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But late Tuesday, the Florida Building Commission decided against it.

This has been a huge issue for homeowners who had water seep through the walls of their new homes during the storms. Because the kind of damage didn't violate current building codes, most builders say they're not responsible for the damage.

The building commission shot down the entire proposal from the Central Florida building officials in what some say amounts to pure politics, and people buying new homes in the next year and a half will be the ones to suffer.

Two Orange County building officials represented the entire Central Florida chapter and thousands of homeowners who had water seep through their walls during the hurricanes.

"Give the same amount of protection for single family residence as it does for an apartment or commercial," says Orange County Building Director Bob Olin.

They argued that the Florida building code should include a specific definition of "weather resistant," so builders have standards to build to and officials have rules to enforce.

"The wording is much too vague. All it says is the exterior walls should provide weather protection for a home without providing any definition as to what that means," says Olin.

But the commission said, since that would be a brand new addition to the code, it would require public hearings first and starting those would delay the entire code taking effect in July. They also listened to urging from the Home Builders Association to wait for a study of the science behind why the homes leaked.

"To find the solution rather than recommend a solution that may not solve the problem," says Jack Glenn, Florida Home Builders Association.

Then, they made a last ditch effort to require builders to apply the paint or exterior finish of a home in accordance with what's recommended on the can. It failed, too, with most of the building officials voting yes and the builders on the commission voting no.

"Would it be better to have an approval, have them back a code change? Absolutely, yes, it would. But is it going to stop us from moving forward and getting walls that are more weather resistant? No, it's not," says Olin.

Some of the building officials even suspect the homebuilders intentionally delayed their study to keep this from happening, because now it will take at least another year and a half.

But the local building officials now plan to get together and try to enact local laws. It's their only other option.

Any action taken by the commission or local governments would only apply to new home construction. So it would not address the thousands of people who already have water damage. Their best hope is the home builders' study. If the findings show that builders' work wasn't good enough, the association will urge the builders to go back and make repairs.