by Steve VanDyke
The Board of Building Regulations and Standards (BBRS) has voted to amend the 9th edition of the State Building Code 9th by adopting the 2018 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) with Massachusetts amendments. The Secretary of State has assigned February 7, 2020, as the effective date. A version of the amendments is available on the Office of Public Safety and Inspections webpage:
https://www.mass.gov/handbook/ninth-edition-of-the-ma-state-building-code-780
The amendments which can be viewed include:
- Ninth Edition Base Code – Chapter 13
- Stretch Energy Code – Appendix AA
- Ninth Edition Residential Code – Chapter 11
In updating the 9th edition energy code, the BBRS actions included granting time to adjust to the updated code. For this reason, the BBRS voted that building permit applicants can elect to utilize the energy code provision in the 2015 IECC along with the Massachusetts amendments until August 7, 2020, at which time this option will conclude.
Not looking forward to cracking open a new code book, and learning the new rules from scratch? Look for a future program through WCCSI, which will highlight the differences between the current code, the textbook version of 2018 IECC and the 780CMR amendments which make it unique to Massachusetts.