Michigan committee hears competing calls to adopt 2021 codes or jump to 2024; sprinkler requirement draws sharp debate

LANSING — The Joint Committee on Administrative Rules on Thursday heard hours of testimony on whether Michigan should adopt the 2021 International Residential Code and related energy and electrical standards or move directly to the 2024 editions, and whether residential fire-sprinkler language removed from the state proposal should be restored.

The meeting focused on competing claims about safety, cost and legal process from the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), home builders, fire officials, electrical inspectors and industry groups.

Why it matters: LARA said it must follow statutory cycles in updating Michigan's codes and cannot have two overlapping rule dockets open, so it is advancing rules based on the 2021 code now and said it will begin rulemaking on the 2024 code after the current rule set is finalized. Builders and some industry groups urged skipping to 2024 to avoid two quick code updates; fire officials and inspectors urged adoption of stronger life-safety provisions now, including restoring residential sprinkler language.

LARA testimony and statutory constraints

Paige Fultz, director of the Office of Policy and Legislative Affairs at LARA, and Andrew Briscoe, director of the Bureau of Construction Codes, told the committee their office is charged with administering the state construction code act and adopting the ICC and NFPA model codes on a multi-year cycle. Briscoe said the department’s proposal before the committee adopts the 2021 residential code and the residential portion of the energy code and that the…