Tacoma committee advances plan to adopt International Property Maintenance Code after staff briefing

Tacoma’s Community Vitality and Safety Committee heard an update April 10 from Planning and Development Services on a proposal to consolidate the city’s private-property nuisance and minimum building codes into a single International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC) tailored to local needs.

The move would consolidate disparate Tacoma Municipal Code sections — including nuisance provisions in TMC 8.3 and exterior building standards in TMC 2.01 — into one enforceable code, officials said, and is intended to create clearer timelines, single-case records in the city’s compliance software and more predictable enforcement for property owners and staff.

Mindy Weber, code inspection manager for Planning and Development Services, told the committee, “We’re now positioned to move forward with a unified approach that addresses multiple code sections simultaneously.” Deja Irving, code compliance supervisor, said, “The International Property Maintenance Code is, like I just stated, a total property maintenance code that combines all aspects of our existing Nuisance 8.3 and Building 2.01 into a clear, concise, easily interpretable, and enforceable addition to the Tacoma municipal codes.”

Why it matters

Staff said consolidating to the IPMC would let inspectors manage a single case record per property instead of multiple concurrent cases across different TMC sections, allow Acela (Accela) configuration for consistent workflows and provide standardized criteria to…