International Code Council


The International Code Council is an American nonprofit standards organization sponsored by the building trades, which was founded in 1994 through the merger of three regional model code organizations in the American construction industry. Since 2023, ICC's headquarters has been based at Capitol Crossing in Washington, D.C.
The organization creates the International Building Code and International Residential Code, two model building codes, which have been adopted for use as a base code standard by most jurisdictions in the United States. The ICC's model codes have been criticized for inflating housing costs and reducing housing supply in the United States through arbitrary and stringent standards that do little for safety and are out of sync with best practices in other countries. The IBC has contributed to the spread of 5-over-1 type of buildings across the US and contributed to a lack of medium-density housing.
Despite its name, the International Code Council is not an international organization, its codes are rarely used outside the United States, and its regulations do not consistently follow international best practices. According to the ICC, the IBC is intended to protect public health and safety while avoiding both unnecessary costs and preferential treatment of specific materials or methods of construction. According to the American Libertarian think tank Cato Institute, "Building code rules can add significantly to the cost of constructing new housing. Codes have ballooned in length and complexity", additionally, "...building code changes adopted just since 2012 account for 11 percent of the cost of building new apartments..."
According to Open Secrets, expenditures on lobbying for the ICC in 2024 was $712,500.

ICC Model Codes

Since the early twentieth century, the system of building regulations in the United States has been based on model building codes developed by three regional model code groups and adopted in a piecemeal fashion by local and state governments. The National Codes developed by the Building Officials Code Administrators International were used on the East Coast and throughout the Midwest of the United States. The Standard Codes from the Southern Building Code Congress International were used in the Southeast. The Uniform Codes published by the International Conference of Building Officials were used primarily throughout the West Coast and across a large swath of the middle of the country to most of the Midwest.
In 1972, BOCA, SBCCI, and ICBO created the Council of American Building Officials to prepare a national building code for residential construction. CABO's One and Two Family Dwelling Code was adopted by only a handful of U.S. jurisdictions; the rest preferred to stick with the regional building codes. In 1994, BOCA, SBCCI, and ICBO merged to form the International Code Council in order to develop a comprehensive set of building codes that would have no regional limitations: the International Codes. There were several free trade developments that led to the founding of ICC: the ratification of the North American Free Trade Agreement, the formation of the European Union, and the EU's efforts to unify standards for building design, construction, and materials across the European Single Market. All these developments caused American construction professionals and manufacturers to push for a nationwide building code in the United States, so that they could waste less time and money complying with different provisions of the regional codes and could instead focus on compliance with other countries' building codes in order to compete internationally for construction projects.
After three years of extensive research and development, the first edition of the International Building Code was published in 2000. A new code edition has since been released every three years thereafter. The code was patterned on the three legacy codes previously developed by the organizations that had formed ICC. By the year 2000, ICC had completed the International Codes series and ceased development of the legacy codes in favor of their national successors.
The word "International" in the names of the ICC and all three of its predecessors, as well as the IBC and other ICC products, despite all 18 of the company's board members being residents of the United States, reflects the fact that a number of other countries in the Caribbean and Latin America had already begun to rely on model building codes developed in the United States rather than developing their own. Bermuda was using codes by BOCA and Western Samoa was using ICBO codes. ICC was thus aware that it was writing model codes for an international audience. "Calling it 'international' keeps it from being called the 'U.S. Building Code,'" explains Bill Tangye, SBCCI Chief Executive Officer.

Legacy codes

  • BOCA National Building Code by the Building Officials Code Administrators International
  • Uniform Building Code by the International Conference of Building Officials
  • Standard Building Code by the Southern Building Code Congress International

    Competing codes and final adoption

The National Fire Protection Association initially joined ICC in a collective effort to develop the International Fire Code. This effort fell apart at the completion of the first draft of the document. Subsequent efforts by ICC and NFPA to reach agreement on this and other documents were unsuccessful, resulting in a series of disputes between the two organizations. After several failed attempts to find common ground with the ICC, NFPA withdrew from participation in development of the International Codes and joined with the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers and the Western Fire Chiefs Association to create an alternative set of codes. First published in 2002, the code set named the Comprehensive Consensus Codes, or C3, includes the NFPA 5000 building code as its centerpiece and several companion codes such as the National Electrical Code, NFPA 101 Life Safety Code, Uniform Plumbing Code, Uniform Mechanical Code, and NFPA 1. Unlike the IBC, the NFPA 5000 conformed to ANSI-established policies and procedures for the development of voluntary consensus standards.
The NFPA's move to introduce a competing building standard received strong opposition from powerful trade groups such as the American Institute of Architects, BOMA International and the National Association of Home Builders. After several unsuccessful attempts to encourage peaceful cooperation between NFPA and ICC and resolution of their disputes over code development, a number of organizations, including AIA, BOMA and two dozen commercial real estate associations, founded the Get It Together coalition, which repeatedly urged NFPA to abandon code development related to NFPA 5000 and to work with ICC to integrate the other NFPA codes and standards into the ICC family of codes.
Initially, under Governor Gray Davis, California had adopted the NFPA 5000 codes as a baseline for the future California Building Code, but in 2003, Davis was recalled from office and Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected to replace him. Upon taking office, Schwarzenegger rescinded Davis's directive, and the state adopted the IBC instead. Adopting NFPA 5000 would have caused a disparity between California and the majority of other states which had adopted the IBC.

Overview

A large portion of the International Building Code deals with fire prevention. It differs from the related International Fire Code in that the IBC addresses fire prevention in regard to construction and design and the fire code addresses fire prevention in regard to the operation of a completed and occupied building. For example, the building code sets criteria for the number, size and location of exits in the design of a building while the fire code requires the exits of a completed and occupied building to be unblocked. The building code also deals with access for the disabled and structural stability. The International Building Code applies to all structures in areas where it is adopted, except for one and two family dwellings.
Parts of the code reference other codes including the International Plumbing Code, the International Mechanical Code, the National Electrical Code, and various National Fire Protection Association standards. Therefore, if a municipality adopts the International Building Code, it also adopts those parts of other codes referenced by the IBC. Often, the plumbing, mechanical, and electric codes are adopted along with the building code.
The code book itself totals over 700 pages and chapters include:
  • Building occupancy classifications
  • Building heights and areas
  • Interior finishes
  • Foundation, wall, and roof construction
  • Fire protection systems
  • Materials used in construction
  • Elevators and escalators
  • Already existing structures
  • Means of egress

    Means of egress

The phrase "means of egress" refers to the ability to exit the structure, primarily in the event of an emergency, such as a fire. Specifically, a means of egress is broken into three parts: the exit access, the exit, and the exit discharge.
The code specifies the number of exits required for a structure based on its intended use and the occupancy load as well as their relative locations. It also deals with special needs, such as hospitals, nursing homes, and prisons where evacuating people may have special requirements. In some instances, requirements are made based on possible hazards where flammable or toxic chemicals will be in use.