About International Code Council
The International Code Council, a membership association dedicated to building safety and fire prevention, develops the codes used to construct residential and commercial buildings, including homes and schools. Most U.S. cities, counties and states that adopt codes choose the International Codes, building safety codes developed by the International Code Council.
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Membership: International Code Council members include state, county and municipal code enforcement and fire officials, architects, engineers, builders, contractors, elected officials, manufacturers and others in the construction industry. The International Code Council has more than 300 chapters. Each chapter has its own personality and focus, representing all International Code Council member professional disciplines.
I-Codes: The International Codes, or I-Codes, published by the International Code Council, provide minimum safeguards for people at home, at school and in the workplace. I-Codes are a complete set of comprehensive, coordinated building safety and fire prevention codes. Building codes benefit public safety and support the industry’s need for one set of codes without regional limitations.
I-Code Users: Fifty states and the District of Columbia have adopted the I-Codes at the state or jurisdictional level. Federal agencies including the Architect of the Capitol, General Services Administration, National Park Service, Department of State, U.S. Forest Service and the Veterans Administration also enforce the I-Codes. The Department of Defense references the International Building Code for constructing military facilities, including those that house our troops, around the world and at home. Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands enforce one or more of the I-Codes.
Building Green: 
Strong, durable buildings that are safe and affordable have a smaller impact on the world's limited resources. The Code Council is committed to educating its members on green building and participating in activities with other organizations that assure green building People Helping People Build a Safer World™ practices are sustainable and safe. The Code Council advocates for green building in the legislative, regulatory and codes arenas, www.iccsafe.org/news/green.
Building Code History: For thousands of years, building codes and regulations have protected the public. The earliest known code of law—the Code of Hammurabi, king of the Babylonian Empire, written in 2200 B.C.—assessed severe penalties, including death, if a building was not constructed safely. The regulation of building construction in the United States dates back to the 1700s. By the early-1900s special interest groups, such as the insurance industry, joined others with similar concerns to develop a model code. This first model building code gained widespread popularity among legislative authorities. It provided an accessible source of comprehensive technical requirements without the difficulties and expense of investigation, research and drafting of individual local codes.
How a Code Becomes Law: Legislative bodies are not obligated to adopt model building safety or fire prevention codes, and may write their own code or portions of a code. A model code has no legal standing until it is adopted as law by a legislative body (state legislature, county board, city council, etc.). When adopted as law, all owners of property within the boundaries of the adopting jurisdiction are required to comply with the referred codes. Because codes are updated, existing structures usually are required to meet the code that was enforced when the property was built. The primary application of a building code is to regulate new construction. Building codes usually only apply to an existing building if the building undergoes reconstruction, rehabilitation or alteration, or if the occupancy of the existing building changes to a new occupancy as defined by the building code.
Technical Support: The International Code Council provides free code opinions to all International Code Council members. Annually, the Code Council responds to more than 60,000 requests for code opinions by phone and 5,000 informal written requests. The Code Council also performs comprehensive plan reviews of private and public sector projects for local and state governments, architects and engineers. The Council offers in-person technical consulting where designers meet with International Code Council technical staff to create plans and specs, analyze design options, evaluate specific code sections and provide guidance on code compliance. The International Code Council technical experts include architects; civil, fire protection, mechanical and plumbing engineers; energy conservation experts and accessibility specialists.
