The Residential Code Development Committee just wrapped up five days of hearings in Orlando hearing 369 proposals to modify the IRC. The second set of hearings will be in October in Cleveland. PBA Past President Jon Sukonik has contributed an incredible amount of time and energy working on behalf of home builders all over the United States.
The ICC’s Code Development Committees (CDCs) consist of over 250 volunteers across all aspects of the Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Operations and Maintenance (AEC+OM) ecosystem. These members are industry leading experts who serve to ensure the I-Codes are the best model codes globally for the safety of the built environment.
The International Code Council develops construction and public safety codes through a governmental consensus process. This system of code development has provided the highest level of safety in the world for more than 90 years.
To give you a brief idea of the process, the 2027 IRC review consists of 2 Committee Action Hearings (CAH#1 and CAH#2)
Group A: ICC’s Residential Mechanical and Plumbing Code Development Committee which is charged with reviewing Chapters 12-23 of the IRC
- NAHB has four representative seats out of 12 seats on the Committee.
- Committee meetings were held in 2024.
- There were 66 proposed changes.
Group B: ICC’s Residential Building Code Development Committee which is charged with reviewing Chapters 1-10 of the IRC
- NAHB has four representative seats out of 12 seats on the Committee.
- The first review was just held in Orlando April 27 through May 2.
- The second will be in Cleveland in October.
- There were 376 proposed changes that were reviewed by the Committee during CAH #1.
- The second hearing will only address those proposals that receive Public Comment on the Committee’s action taken.
The three-year process will conclude with Public Comment Hearings (PCH) which will include last year’s hearings on Residential Mechanical and Plumbing chapters (Group A) and this year’s IRC (Group B).
- Any Proposal that receives a public comment after each CAH#2 will move from Consent Agenda to PCH.
- The PCH will be held in April 2026 in Hartford and will be the start of the final vote by Registered Governmental Voters.
- Remote voting (CDP Access) will happen after the conclusion of the PCH to allow votes by those not in attendance at the PCH.
- It will take a two-third majority to overturn the Committee’s action.
- The proposals that are Approved in the final voting of the Governmental Voters will become part of the IRC.
Jon sits on both the IRC Mechanical / Plumbing Committee in Group A and the IRC Building Committee in Group B.
The resulting 2027 IRC will be reviewed in Pennsylvania starting in 2028 with an anticipated enforcement in +/- 2031.
We all want to thank Jon for his dedication and hard work to help our industry.