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Planning commission recommends city adopt 2024 ICC code updates to City Code
Summary
The City of Laramie planning commission voted unanimously to recommend city council adopt text amendments updating Title 15 of the Laramie Municipal Code to align with the 2024 International Code Council cycle. Staff said the changes clarify plumbing primer rules, pressure‑testing requirements and references to local appeals procedures.
The City of Laramie Planning Commission on a unanimous vote recommended that City Council amend LMC Title 15 to reflect updates in the 2024 International Code Council (ICC) cycle.
The changes, described by Lucas Witt, the city’s chief building official, adjust language in Section 15.24 of the Unified Development Code (UDC) so city rules match the statewide code cycle and to clarify local administration. “The whole reason we’re here…is the TA‑25‑02, which is the text amendment updates to section 15.24 of the UDC,” Witt said, noting the city updates after the state adopts new codes every three years.
Witt told commissioners a set of mostly clerical clarifications and a few substantive edits are included. Among the items he highlighted: replacing a cross‑reference to the city’s board of appeals so code citations point to local procedures; reinstating the purple primer requirement for solvent‑cement joints on pipe segments from private buildings to city hookups so inspectors have a visible verification method for buried joints; and establishing explicit pressure‑test values for plumbing piping (Witt said staff proposes a uniform 15‑pound test for most piping, 60 pounds for welded pipe) to reduce uncertainty between plumbing contractors and utility recommendations. Witt also noted updates that change the referenced air‑freezing index and a site class reference for seismic design from a clerical mismatch rather than a policy change.
Commissioners asked clarifying questions about how the primer requirement would be enforced, whether the air‑freezing index would increase construction costs, and how the pressure‑test standards interact with local utility recommendations. Witt said the purple primer requirement is limited to the house‑to‑city‑connection joints because the city does not air‑test those buried segments and primer provides a practical verification without requiring workers to enter deep trenches. On the air‑freezing index and seismic site class references, Witt characterized those as clerical updates to match the current ICC language and said they should not change typical frost depth or design procedures for local foundations.
No public comments were offered. A commissioner moved to recommend City Council approve the amendments as drafted; Commissioner Janice seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
The planning commission’s recommendation will go to City Council; staff noted the item is slated for a City Council hearing provided council accepts the recommendation and notices are published.
