TACOMA, Wash. — The State Building Code Council’s legislative committee spent most of its meeting reviewing a staff Gantt chart showing the 2024 code update cycle has slipped and discussing whether to pursue administrative remedies, temporary off‑cycle rules or legislation to change when the new codes must take effect.

Dustin, SBCC staff, told the committee the "2024 code cycle is running beyond its original, anticipated, you know, working dates," and that delays in model code publication, legal setbacks and staff capacity have made the schedule tighter than planned. He said staff is aiming for a council vote to file CR102 in mid‑February and, absent legislative relief, an implementation date tied to the end of the 2027 legislative session that would push enforcement into 2027.

That timeline — and how to respond — split committee members and stakeholders. Some council members urged the SBCC to accelerate publication tasks and to look for ways to compress the time between final adoption and effective dates. Others said key publishing and training steps (including an ICC print window of roughly eight weeks) make an ambitious November 2026 implementation unrealistic.

Michael Transu of the Washington Aggregate and Concrete Association argued the council must "comply with" the statute and not override legislative direction: "the statute is the statute and the building code council or any state agency doesn't have the authority to go outside of what the legislature directs," he said. A WAVO speaker described more than 500 hours of volunteer review during the prior cycle and warned that administrative shortcuts would not change statutory requirements.

Several members focused on a narrow set of legislative deadlines that are already tied to the 2024 code cycle, including single‑exit and multiplex housing provisions that statute lists with near‑term effective dates. Representative Ralph Rommel said those provisions are important to the state’s housing strategy, suggested encouraging building officials to use approved‑but‑not‑implemented 2024 provisions as code alternatives, and said he would draft legislation to give the council more flexibility: "Once we know we've got good rules, let's figure out how we can get the ball rolling," he said.

Staff outlined a near‑term schedule: SBCC would aim to vote to file CR102 at a Jan. 15 council meeting and file by Feb. 18; public comment would close around April 18; and the full council would consider filing CR103 at its May meeting. Dustin cautioned that if the CR102 filing does not reflect statutory timing, staff cannot advise filing a CR102 that would contradict RCW requirements.

The committee also discussed non‑legislative, expedited approaches for narrow items — for example, off‑cycle or emergency rules to implement the single‑exit and multiplex housing items sooner than the entire 2024 publication cycle. Staff said such targeted remedies may make some provisions usable before full publication, but warned this may not produce a printed ICC book or the full training package immediately.

Lawmakers and council members also flagged the SBCC’s financing and administrative capacity. Representative Rommel said fees and expenditure authority last changed in 2018 and urged the group to quantify staff needs and costs. Dustin noted inconsistent building‑permit reporting by jurisdictions limits the council’s ability to audit fee remittances but said recent months showed record revenue to the SBCC account.

No formal change to the implementation date was adopted by the committee at the meeting; the council’s November 1 date remains in place until council rulemaking amends it. The committee concluded with an agreement to summarize the discussion for the executive committee, continue outreach to legislative staff and stakeholders, and review draft legislation from Representative Rommel when it is available.

The legislative committee adjourned after the chair directed staff to present options to the full council and the executive committee for consideration.