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<title>Model building code</title>

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<span id="openzim-page-title" class="mw-page-title-main"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Model building code</span></span>

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<div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content mw-content-ltr" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><p>A <b>model building code</b> is a <a href="Building_code" title="Building code">building code</a> that is developed and maintained by a <a href="Standards_organization" title="Standards organization">standards organization</a> independent of the <a href="Jurisdiction" title="Jurisdiction">jurisdiction</a> responsible for enacting the building code. A local government can choose to adopt a model building code as its own. This saves local governments the expense and trouble of developing their own codes. Many smaller governments lack the expertise to do so.

</p><p>According to the <a href="Cato_Institute" title="Cato Institute">Cato Institute</a>, "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..."<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Overview">Overview</h2></div>

<p>The concept of the <i>model building codes</i> has been applied since the early 1900s in the countries where regulation of building construction is a responsibility of the <a href="Local_government" title="Local government">local authorities</a>. The popularity of model building codes can be attributed to two factors: (a) the developing of proprietary building codes is prohibitively expensive, and (b) the ability of the model codes to accommodate local conditions. Since modern building regulations are very complex, their development and effective maintenance are far beyond the technical and financial capabilities of most jurisdictions. Rather than drafting its own building codes, a local authority might choose to use the model building codes instead. The model building codes are either adopted (accepted without modifications) or adapted (modified) to a particular jurisdiction and then enforced by the adopting authority.

</p><p>Model building codes are developed by <a href="Standards_organizations" class="mw-redirect" title="Standards organizations">standards organizations</a> through a network of development committees with representatives from the various affected entities, both government and private. This method allows the pooling of financial and intellectual resources to produce codes that remain current and technically sound. The <a href="Standards_organizations" class="mw-redirect" title="Standards organizations">model code developers</a> are constantly working to update their codes to incorporate latest research results and building technologies.

</p><p>The <a href="Standards_organizations" class="mw-redirect" title="Standards organizations">model code developers</a> are generally funded by the sales of the model codes, the reprint royalties, and the consulting services they may offer to the adopting authorities and code users.

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Application">Application</h2></div>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="European_Union_and_Canada">European Union and Canada</h3></div>

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</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="Eurocode" class="mw-redirect" title="Eurocode">Eurocode</a></div> <div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="National_Building_Code_of_Canada" title="National Building Code of Canada">National Building Code of Canada</a></div>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="United_States">United States</h3></div>

<p>In the <a href="United_States" title="United States">United States</a>, model building codes are adopted by the <a href="State_government" title="State government">state governments</a>, <a href="Counties" class="mw-redirect" title="Counties">counties</a>, fire districts, and <a href="Municipality" title="Municipality">municipalities</a>. A number of federal agencies—including the <a href="United_States_Department_of_Defense" title="United States Department of Defense">U.S. Department of Defense</a>, the <a href="National_Park_Service" title="National Park Service">National Park Service</a>, the <a href="Department_of_State" class="mw-redirect" title="Department of State">Department of State</a> and the <a href="United_States_Forest_Service" title="United States Forest Service">Forest Service</a>—use private-sector model codes for projects funded by the federal government.

</p><p>Normally, model building codes have a 3–5 year update cycle. However, due to the length of time that it takes for a jurisdiction to review and approve a new code, the currently enforced version of the local code is often not the most recent edition of the model building code. On which the adopted code is based.

</p><p>Also, when any given jurisdiction adopts a model building code, it adopts a specific edition of the model code (e.g. the 1997 <a href="Uniform_Building_Code" title="Uniform Building Code">Uniform Building Code</a> or the 2006 <a href="International_Building_Code" class="mw-redirect" title="International Building Code">International Building Code</a>), which then becomes the <a href="Law" title="Law">law</a> of that jurisdiction. As a result of this practice, the adopted codes are not automatically updated. When a new edition of the model code is released by the <a href="Standards_organizations" class="mw-redirect" title="Standards organizations">model code developer</a>, the adopting authority may choose to ignore it and continue using the older version of the model code it adopted. Otherwise, the jurisdiction must vote to update its code and bring its inspectors up to date on the changes being made to the code. Most jurisdictions update their codes regularly to avoid backlash from <a href="Architect" title="Architect">architects</a> and building contractors, who respond to outdated codes by seeking variances to permit the use of more efficient design solutions and technologies accepted in areas using more modern codes.

</p><p>The model codes may either be adopted outright as the building codes for a jurisdiction, or they may be adopted with amendments or additional rules. In some cases, the amendments or additional requirements and exemptions are issued as a separate document or, in other cases, the jurisdiction may print, under its own title, a merged code, incorporating all the local revisions. For example, the City of <a href="Los_Angeles" title="Los Angeles">Los Angeles</a> 2011 Building Code is based on the 2009 International Building Code, which is a model code developed by the International Code Council (ICC).

</p><p>In the wake of the 2002 case <i>Veeck v. Southern Building Code Congress Int'l, Inc.</i>,<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> the organization Public Resource has published a substantial portion of the enacted building codes on-line, and they are available as .pdf's which are freely downloadable.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The <i>Veeck</i> case has had the effect of placing the text of the adopted model codes into the <a href="Public_domain" title="Public domain">public domain</a>, although the model codes themselves, until they are adopted into law, are not in the public domain.

</p><p>Some model building codes commonly used in the <a href="United_States" title="United States">United States</a>:

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<ul><li><i><a href="International_Building_Code" class="mw-redirect" title="International Building Code">International Building Code</a></i> by the <a href="International_Code_Council" title="International Code Council">International Code Council</a></li>

<li><i>NFPA 5000</i> by the <a href="National_Fire_Protection_Association" title="National Fire Protection Association">National Fire Protection Association</a></li>

<li><i><a href="National_Electrical_Code" title="National Electrical Code">National Electrical Code</a></i> by the <a href="National_Fire_Protection_Association" title="National Fire Protection Association">National Fire Protection Association</a></li></ul>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>

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</style><cite class="citation web cs1"><i>www.cato.org</i> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.cato.org/regulation/winter-2024-2025/reforming-us-building-codes#a-brief-history-of-us-building-codes">https://www.cato.org/regulation/winter-2024-2025/reforming-us-building-codes#a-brief-history-of-us-building-codes</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2025-05-01</span></span>.</cite> <span class="cs1-visible-error citation-comment"><code class="cs1-code">{{cite web}}</code>: </span><span class="cs1-visible-error citation-comment">Missing or empty <code class="cs1-code">|title=</code> (help)</span></span>

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<li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F3/293/293.F3d.791.99-40632.html">Veeck v. Southern Building Code Congress Int'l, Inc.</a></i>, 293 F.3d 791 (5th Cir. 2002).</span>

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<li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://bulk.resource.org/codes.gov/">bulk.resource.org/codes.gov</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20081015074713/http://bulk.resource.org/codes.gov/">Archived</a> 2008-10-15 at the <a href="Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a> Public Resource website</span>

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This article is issued from <a class="external text" title="Last edited on 2025-05-01" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/?title=Model_building_code&oldid=1288269623">Wikipedia</a>. The text is available under <a class="external text" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en">Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0</a> unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

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