International Residential Code History

In addition to state and federal initiatives to establish safety codes, outside guidelines may also influence legislation. The International Residential Code (IRC) is the product of such a dynamic and serves as a general rubric for many states.

Basics

• The IRC is one of the safety templates, in addition to the Building Code, created by the International Code Council. The council was formed in 1994 and began working on their "model code groups." Most of these major groups, including the Residential Code, were formally presented in 2003. The codes cover every conceivable aspect of home construction including furnaces, electrical, plumbing, heating, load-bearing design and ventilation.

2009

• In 2009, the IRC saw substantive changes. New provisions or adjustments covered a vast amount of territory including: duct and exhaust systems, kitchen ventilation and home heating units. The most significant amendments concerned safety devices such as sprinkler systems and carbon monoxide (CM) detectors in one- and two-family houses. CM detectors became required "outside all sleeping areas" and sprinklers were made mandatory unless a jurisdiction opted not to adopt all fire code provisions.

State Adoptions

• Since the IRC was created, some, or all, of its guidelines have been adopted by the vast majority of U.S. states. Since model codes such as the IRC are not legally binding until they are actually adopted by a state legislature, those respective bodies have the right to change or alter the regulations as they see fit.