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Building Code Council legislative committee raises concerns about bills that could change energy‑code scope and override local review
Summary
Members of the State Building Code Council’s legislative committee on Feb. 12 discussed pending bills (including HB 2381 and ESSB 5552) that they said could shift energy‑code authority, require acceptance of third‑party certifications by local jurisdictions, and import IECC Section R406 in ways that lower residential energy standards.
OLYMPIA — Members of the State Building Code Council’s legislative committee met Feb. 12 and spent the meeting reviewing the status of several bills and flagging provisions they say could alter the boundary between the state building code and the state energy code.
During the committee’s legislative update, staff noted the fiscal cutoff had passed and many bills that did not advance out of policy or fiscal committees were now categorized as dead. Several bills remain active, including ESSB 5552 (a building codes bill now in the House Local Government Committee) and HB 2381, which committee members discussed at length.
Why it matters: Council members cautioned that language in the substitute version of HB 2381 — particularly a Section 3 that references 19.27 and 19.27a — could change how energy‑code compliance pathways are set and potentially permit tradeoffs between embodied carbon and operational…
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