Building codes

AN ACT Relating to building codes; amending RCW 19.27.032, 1
19.27A.015, and 19.27A.020; reenacting and amending RCW 19.27.031; 2
and repealing RCW 19.27A.160. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
Sec. 1. RCW 19.27.031 and 2024 c 170 s 1 and 2024 c 133 s 1 are 5
each reenacted and amended to read as follows: 6
(1) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, there shall be 7
in effect in all counties and cities the state building code which 8
shall consist of the following model codes which are hereby adopted 9
by reference: 10
(a)(i) The International Building Code, published by the 11
International Code Council, Inc.; 12
(ii) The International Residential Code, published by the 13
International Code Council, Inc.; 14
(b) The International Mechanical Code, published by the 15
International Code Council, Inc., except that the standards for 16
liquefied petroleum gas installations shall be NFPA 58 (Storage and 17
Handling of Liquefied Petroleum Gases) and ANSI Z223.1/NFPA 54 18
(National Fuel Gas Code); 19
(c) The International Fire Code, published by the International 20
Code Council, Inc., including those standards of the National Fire 21
H-2523.1
HOUSE BILL 2141
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Representatives Connors, Richards, Dufault, Jacobsen, Schmidt,
Engell, Bronoske, Ley, Low, Barkis, Barnard, Dye, Rude, Mendoza, and
Graham
Prefiled 12/15/25. Read first time 01/12/26. Referred to Committee
on Local Government.
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Protection Association specifically referenced in the International 1
Fire Code: PROVIDED, That, notwithstanding any wording in this code, 2
participants in religious ceremonies shall not be precluded from 3
carrying handheld candles; 4
(d) Only those portions of the International Wildland Urban 5
Interface Code, published by the International Code Council Inc., as 6
specifically referenced in RCW 19.27.560(1), or the model 7
International Wildland Urban Interface Code specifically referenced 8
in RCW 19.27.560(2); 9
(e) The Uniform Plumbing Code and Uniform Plumbing Code 10
Standards, published by the International Association of Plumbing and 11
Mechanical Officials: PROVIDED, That any provisions of such code 12
affecting sewers or fuel gas piping are not adopted;13
(f) The rules adopted by the council establishing standards for 14
making buildings and facilities accessible to and usable by 15
individuals with disabilities or elderly persons as provided in RCW 16
70.92.100 through 70.92.160; and 17
(g) The state's climate zones for building purposes are 18
designated in RCW 19.27A.020(((3))) (4) and may not be changed 19
through the adoption of a model code or rule. 20
(2) In case of conflict among the codes enumerated in subsection 21
(1) of this section, the first named code shall govern over those 22
following. 23
(3)(a) ((The)) Starting with the adoption of the 2036 edition of 24
the model codes, the model codes enumerated in this section shall be 25
adopted or amended by the council as provided in RCW 19.27.074 and 26
19.27.032 through 19.27.034 ((in a three-year state building code 27
adoption cycle. The state building code adoption cycle follows the 28
adoption cycle of the model codes. Substantive changes to the state 29
building code may only be adopted within the three-year cycle except 30
as provided in RCW 19.27.032)) no more than every six years.31
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, beginning with 32
the effective date of the 2024 adoption of the building codes as 33
described in this subsection, the council shall not initiate, adopt, 34
or implement any further editions, revisions, or updates to the 35
building codes for 10 years.36
(c) The council shall review the ((most)) recent editions of each 37
of the model codes enumerated in subsection (1) of this section and 38
take action on adoption no later than 30 months after the date of 39
publication of each such code. The "date of publication" is the date 40
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of publication printed in each model code. If only a month and year 1
are shown, the date of publication for such code shall be the last 2
day of the month shown. 3
(4) The council may initiate and implement an interim code 4
adoption cycle for all Washington state building codes if a majority 5
of its voting membership determines one is needed to correct errors 6
and omissions, or eliminate obsolete, conflicting, redundant, or 7
unnecessary regulations as provided in RCW 19.27.032 through 8
19.27.034. 9
(5) Petitions for emergency statewide amendments to the building 10
code may be submitted, considered, and adopted at any time in 11
accordance with RCW 34.05.350 and 19.27.032 through 19.27.034.12
(6) Off-cycle amendments to any of the Washington state building 13
codes may be initiated and implemented at any time if directed by the 14
legislature. 15
(7) The council shall solicit input from first responders to 16
ensure that firefighter safety issues are addressed during the code 17
adoption process. 18
(8) The council may issue opinions relating to the codes at the 19
request of a local official charged with the duty to enforce the 20
enumerated codes. 21
Sec. 2. RCW 19.27.032 and 2024 c 170 s 6 are each amended to 22
read as follows: 23
(1) Adoption or amendment of the state building code or statewide 24
amendments to the state building code as defined in RCW 19.27.031 25
must meet the following criteria: 26
(a) ((Substantive)) Beginning with the effective date of the 2024 27
adoption of the building codes as described in RCW 19.27.031(3), the 28
council shall not initiate, adopt, or implement any further editions, 29
revisions, or updates to the building codes for 10 years. Starting 30
with the adoption of the 2036 edition of the model codes, substantive 31
updates to the state building code shall occur ((only once during the 32
three-year state building code adoption cycle )) no more than every 33
six years as described in RCW 19.27.031(3). No substantive provision 34
may be adopted, amended, or repealed except during the ((three-year)) 35
six-year code adoption cycle, or as provided in (c) or (d) of this 36
subsection. Until the adoption of the 2036 model codes:37
(i) Local amendments to the building codes must not be approved 38
by the council;39
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(ii) Published corrections to errors in the codes must be 1
completed within 12 months of the effective implementation date; and2
(iii) The council may engage in legislatively directed projects, 3
planning, study, and stakeholder engagement activities, provided that 4
no adoption or implementation of new or revised codes shall occur 5
until 10 years after the implementation date of the 2024 codes as 6
described in RCW 19.27.031(3).7
(b) An interim code adoption cycle as outlined in RCW 8
19.27.031(4) shall not be performed earlier than 12 months nor later 9
than 18 months from the effective date of the codes adopted pursuant 10
to (a) of this subsection. 11
(c)(i) The council may adopt emergency amendments to the code at 12
any time under the following conditions: 13
(A) The amendment is necessary for the preservation of the public 14
health, safety, or general welfare; or 15
(B) The amendment is necessary for consistency with state or 16
federal laws and regulations. 17
(ii) The council may not act on a petition for emergency 18
statewide amendments at the meeting when the petition is introduced.19
(iii) The council may accept a petition for emergency statewide 20
amendments only when the petition provides a concise statement of the 21
reasons for a finding that an emergency basis exists, and the council 22
approves a finding that such an emergency basis exists by a two-23
thirds vote of voting members. The approval of emergency amendments 24
requires a majority vote of the voting members. 25
(d) The council may adopt or amend the state building code or 26
code sections at any time pursuant to legislative direction as 27
reflected in legislation signed into law. 28
(e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the 29
council from exercising its authority under chapter 19.27 or 19.27A 30
RCW, including the adoption or amendment of provisions of the state 31
codes when: (i) Necessary to address an imminent and present threat 32
to the health, safety, or welfare of the occupants or users of a 33
structure; (ii) required to maintain compliance with federal or state 34
laws or regulations; or (iii) mandated by a court order.35
(2) Any person or entity may submit to the council a petition in 36
writing for statewide amendments within the time periods established 37
by the council. The petition for statewide amendment must comply with 38
format and content requirements approved by the council.39
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(3) Incomplete petitions for statewide amendments or petitions 1
that exceed the specific delegation of authority provided by the 2
legislature shall not be considered by the council for action.3
(4) The council shall approve the referral of a statewide 4
amendment to a standing committee or technical advisory group.5
(5) The council shall develop a process for council meetings that 6
allows members of the public to understand amendments being proposed 7
for adoption. The process shall include requirements for 8
modifications to proposed rule text to be in writing, specify the 9
reason for the amendment, and be available to the council and the 10
members of the public at least seven days prior to a vote on final 11
amendment adoption. The council shall adopt rules that encourage 12
councilmembers and technical advisory group members to make proposed 13
amendments and text changes available to other members and the public 14
at least 48 hours prior to the meeting at which they will be 15
discussed. 16
(6) The council must adopt policies and procedures for the 17
adoption or amendment of the state building code that comply with the 18
rule-making requirements in chapter 34.05 RCW and chapter 170, Laws 19
of 2024. 20
Sec. 3. RCW 19.27A.015 and 1990 c 2 s 2 are each amended to read 21
as follows: 22
(1) Except as provided in RCW 19.27A.020(7), the Washington state 23
energy code for residential buildings shall be the maximum and 24
minimum energy code for residential buildings in each city, town, and 25
county and shall be enforced by each city, town, and county no later 26
than July 1, 1991. The Washington state energy code for 27
nonresidential buildings shall be the minimum energy code for 28
nonresidential buildings enforced by each city, town, and county.29
(2) Beginning on the effective date of the 2024 energy code for 30
residential buildings and nonresidential buildings, the council shall 31
not initiate, adopt, or implement any further editions, revisions, or 32
updates to the energy code for residential buildings or 33
nonresidential buildings, or both, for 10 years. Starting with the 34
adoption of the 2036 edition of the energy codes for residential 35
buildings and nonresidential buildings, substantive updates to the 36
code shall occur no more than every six years.37
(a) Local amendments to the building codes must not be approved 38
by the council during this time.39
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(b) Published corrections to errors in the codes must be 1
completed within 12 months of the effective implementation date.2
(3) The prohibition in this subsection applies to all codes 3
within the council's jurisdiction in chapters 19.27 and 19.27A RCW.4
(4) The council may, during the 10-year pause, engage in 5
legislatively directed projects, planning, study, and stakeholder 6
engagement activities, provided that no adoption or implementation of 7
new or revised codes shall occur until the expiration of the pause 8
period. Until the adoption of the 2036 codes as referenced above:9
(a) Local amendments to the building codes must not be approved 10
by the council;11
(b) Published corrections to errors in the codes must be 12
completed within 12 months of the effective implementation date; and13
(c) The council may engage in legislatively directed projects, 14
planning, study, and stakeholder engagement activities, provided that 15
no adoption or implementation of new or revised codes shall occur 16
until 10 years after the implementation date of the 2024 codes as 17
described in chapter 19.27A RCW.18
(5) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the 19
council from exercising its authority under chapter 19.27A RCW, 20
including the adoption or amendment of provisions of the state codes 21
when: (a) Necessary to address an imminent and present threat to the 22
health, safety, or welfare of the occupants or users of a structure; 23
(b) required to maintain compliance with federal or state laws or 24
regulations; or (c) mandated by a court order.25
Sec. 4. RCW 19.27A.020 and 2025 c 1 s 6 (Initiative Measure No. 26
2066) are each amended to read as follows: 27
(1) The state building code council in the department of 28
enterprise services shall adopt rules to be known as the Washington 29
state energy code as part of the state building code.30
(2) The council shall follow the legislature's standards set 31
forth in this section to adopt rules to be known as the Washington 32
state energy code. The Washington state energy code shall be designed 33
to: 34
(a) Construct increasingly energy efficient homes and buildings 35
((by the year 2031)); 36
(b) Require new buildings to meet a certain level of energy 37
efficiency, but allow flexibility in building design, construction, 38
and heating equipment efficiencies within that framework; and39
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(c) Allow space heating equipment efficiency to offset or 1
substitute for building envelope thermal performance.2
(3) The Washington state energy code may not in any way prohibit, 3
penalize, or discourage the use of gas for any form of heating, or 4
for uses related to any appliance or equipment, in any building.5
(4) The Washington state energy code shall take into account 6
regional climatic conditions. One climate zone includes: Adams, 7
Asotin, Benton, Chelan, Columbia, Douglas, Ferry, Franklin, Garfield, 8
Grant, Kittitas, Klickitat, Lincoln, Okanogan, Pend Oreille, 9
Skamania, Spokane, Stevens, Walla Walla, Whitman, and Yakima 10
counties. The other climate zone includes all other counties not 11
listed in this subsection (4). The assignment of a county to a 12
climate zone may not be changed by adoption of a model code or rule. 13
Nothing in this section prohibits the council from adopting the same 14
rules or standards for each climate zone. 15
(5) The Washington state energy code for residential buildings 16
shall be the 2006 edition of the Washington state energy code, or as 17
amended by rule by the council. 18
(6) The minimum state energy code for new nonresidential 19
buildings shall be the Washington state energy code, 2006 edition, or 20
as amended by the council by rule. 21
(7)(a) Except as provided in (b) of this subsection, the 22
Washington state energy code for residential structures shall preempt 23
the residential energy code of each city, town, and county in the 24
state of Washington. 25
(b) The state energy code for residential structures does not 26
preempt a city, town, or county's energy code for residential 27
structures which exceeds the requirements of the state energy code 28
and which was adopted by the city, town, or county prior to March 1, 29
1990. Such cities, towns, or counties may not subsequently amend 30
their energy code for residential structures to exceed the 31
requirements adopted prior to March 1, 1990. 32
(8) The state building code council shall consult with the 33
department of enterprise services as provided in RCW 34.05.310 prior 34
to publication of proposed rules. The director of the department of 35
enterprise services shall recommend to the state building code 36
council any changes necessary to conform the proposed rules to the 37
requirements of this section. 38
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(9) The state building code council shall evaluate and consider 1
adoption of the international energy conservation code in Washington 2
state in place of the existing state energy code. 3
(10) The definitions in RCW 19.27A.140 apply throughout this 4
section. 5
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. RCW 19.27A.160 (Residential and 6
nonresidential construction — Energy consumption reduction — Council 7
report) and 2009 c 423 s 5 are each repealed.8
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