Planning Board recommends adoption of 2024 international codes to City Council

The Planning Board voted unanimously to recommend that City Council adopt ordinance 8,684, which updates Boulder’s building, fire and related codes to the 2024 International Code series with a set of local amendments.

Rob Adrian, City of Boulder chief building official, presented the draft ordinance and the rationale for updating the city’s codes. “The purpose of this is to provide a recommendation to approve, deny, or, sorry, modify, ordinance 8,684 to council,” Adrian said. He told the board the city plans to bring the ordinance to council for first reading on Feb. 6 and second reading on Feb. 20, and that a targeted effective date for the updated codes — if adopted — would be Aug. 1, 2025.

What changed and why

Adrian and staff described the update as an adoption of the 2024 International Building Code (and related 2024 ICC codes) with fewer local amendments than in previous cycles. Staff said goals included aligning Boulder with widely adopted national standards to reduce regulatory complexity and potential insurance premium increases, while using a racial‑equity review tool to identify local amendments that reduce disproportionate burdens.

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