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[Dennis Maidon]

Based on the outcome of the December 12, 2011 meeting of the NC Building Code Council, the mandatory effective date for the 2012 Building, Fire, Mechanical, Fuel Gas, and Plumbing codes is now June 1, 2012. The effective date for the Energy Conservation and Residential Codes was initially to coincide with the rest of the Codes but per 2011 Legislative SL 2011-269 their mandatory effective dates will remain March 1, 2012.

With this, we will move forward with the following enforcement dates:

Code Effective Dates
Code Optional Effective Date Mandatory Enforcement Date Notes
Building Sep 1 2011 Jun 1 2012
Residential Jan 1 2011 March 1 2012 Per SL2011-269
Mechanical Sep 1 2011 Jun 1 2012
Plumbing Sep 1 2011 Jun 1 2012
Fuel Gas Sep 1 2011 Jun 1 2012
Fire Prevention Sep 1 2011 Jun 1 2012
Energy Conservation Jan 1 2011 March 1 2012 Per SL2011-269
Law and Administration Jan 1 2011 Jun 1 2012
Electrical N/A N/A Held at Legislature


Four post scripts:

The Residential code will now have the residential portions of the Mechanical, Plumbing and Electrical printed in it as mandated by the BCC. This will push the size of the book beyond 1000 pages and increase the cost substantially. The residential text from the original codes (i.e. mechanical/plumbing/electrical) will be duplicated for the residential printing.

When all of the codes have been proofed and formatted, ICC will begin providing the electronic version of the codes to the jurisdictions.

While we have asked ICC to expedite the printing of the code books, there is no guarantee we will get them before March 1st. We suspect we will see the Energy Code before March, but do not have the same confidence for the residential code due to the expansion to include the trades in the same book.

There is always a possibility that some of these dates may change again, though, at this point, we do not expect that to happen. If it does occur, we will let you know as soon as possible.


Standard Code Classes (for Code Enforcement Inspectors)

Although the mandatory start date for the Energy and Residential Codes remains March 1st, the actual Code books are not anticipated to be available by that date. As a result, all Standard Code Courses with an end date from January 2012 through March 2012 will utilize the 2009 Code in all areas except Electrical. PowerPoints for the 2012 Code will be available after the first of the year and before April 2012 for use in courses taught beginning April 2012.

We will send out another update regarding test updates to the new Code editions immediately following the January 24th Qualifications Board meeting. In the meantime, please advise your students that if they want to test to the current 2009 Code editions they need to schedule a test ASAP.