State and local housing, property maintenance, and building codes contain a wide array of legal requirements pertaining to housing construction and maintenance. Housing and building codes, for example, typically contain provisions governing moisture, pests, and ventilation.

Many jurisdictions rely on “model” codes to provide the framework for local fire, building, housing, property maintenance, plumbing, electrical, energy, and mechanical codes. Currently, these model codes are developed by the International Code Council (ICC), which was founded in 1994 by three regional code associations. ICC has moved away from a regional approach to code development, toward the development of national model codes. The drawback to this national approach is that the codes are less able to account for local and regional factors such as climate and housing type. For current information on model code adoptions by state and local jurisdictions, see www.iccsafe.org/government/adoption.html.

The Alliance and National Center for Healthy Housing submitted proposals to the ICC for the 2009-2010 code change cycle. Click here for the current and past proposals.

Current Model Codes' Provisions Pertaining to Healthy Homes

The chart below highlights provisions found in model codes that address several attributes of a healthy home: dry (water and moisture control); toxin-free; well ventilated (to ensure adequate indoor air quality); pest-free; and other (comfortable, for example). Brief summaries of the code sections are provided in the linked files, grouped according to topic (dry, etc.). (Explanatory notes or comments are in parentheses.) If you prefer, a PDF version features the table and summaries in one document.

About the Codes

• The IPMC applies to existing residential and commercial structures and premises.

• The IRC regulates the construction, alteration, repair, use, and occupancy of detached one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses not more than three stories high. While the section numbers in the code are preceded by a letter, e.g., “R” for the administrative, definitions, and building, planning, and construction portions of the code, “N” for the energy conservation portion, etc., those prefixes have been omitted from this document.

• The IBC governs new construction in residential buildings four or more stories high.

• The IECC sets forth alternative compliance approaches for new construction in both residential (one-and two-family buildings, and multi-family buildings three or less stories in height) and commercial buildings (including residential buildings four or more stories high). For residential buildings, these approaches include a systems approach, which considers the entire building and its energy-using systems as a whole; an approach based on the performance of components in the building envelope; an approach based upon the performance of the building envelope as a whole; and others. Commercial buildings can comply using a prescriptive approach, which sets standards for the building envelope, mechanical, lighting, and service water-heating subsystems; a total building performance approach; or an energy cost budget approach. Therefore, the code provisions cited in this table may not be required in a particular building if that building is constructed using an alternative approach to compliance.

• The IMC governs the design, installation, maintenance, alteration, and inspection of permanently installed mechanical systems used to control environmental conditions within buildings. The IMC does not require the removal and replacement of existing mechanical systems, although work performed on existing systems must conform to the code’s requirements for new work.