City of Surprise Community Development staff presented an overview of the city’s planned adoption process for the 2024 International Codes (I-Codes), describing a staged public review, limited local amendments and a proposed timeline for Council adoption in December 2025.

Mindy Davis, Assistant Director with Community Development, introduced the presentation and identified key staff participants including Carl Montgomery, chief building official, and Keith Tanner, fire marshal for Surprise Fire-Medical. Davis said the city would move from the 2018 to the 2024 I-Codes using a six-year cycle that balances staying current with resource and cost considerations.

Davis said the city’s local amendment draft is relatively small—about 80 pages of local amendments out of roughly 4,718 pages of the base code—and that staff’s philosophy is to stay with the base code where possible. Examples of local amendments include regional best practices such as alternative energy compliance options (ResNET) and an exemption for replacement windows and like-for-like residential HVAC replacements from permit requirements based on customer feedback; staff noted such changes will align Surprise with neighboring jurisdictions.

Davis reviewed coordination with Maricopa County, other cities and industry stakeholders and said the draft will be posted for a minimum 60-day public review with web-based comment collection. Staff plans two public outreach meetings in September, a Council work session update in October, a commission update in November and a Council adoption item in December. Davis noted Buckeye and Chandler have adopted the 2024 I-Codes and several other Valley jurisdictions are in various adoption stages.

Davis said adopting updated I-Codes supports public safety, industry predictability and alignment with federal, state and county regulations. She reiterated that Arizona state law restricts local adoption in some areas—for example, state law prohibits requiring fire sprinklers in one- and two-family dwellings—and that staff is working with the City Attorney’s Office on legal review of local amendments.

City staff invited commissioners to the outreach process and said meeting dates would be posted online once scheduled. No formal action was taken; the presentation was informational and staff will return with proposed local amendments for commission and Council consideration.