Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Building Codes topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Building code council outlines shelter appendix, smaller dwelling units and single‑exit rules ahead of rulemaking
Summary
Council chair Todd Byreuther told the Local Government Committee the council is finalizing rules for four legislative mandates — temporary emergency shelters, reduced minimum dwelling size, multiplex housing and single‑exit provisions — with public hearings scheduled and final adoption later in 2026.
Chair Davina Duer convened the Local Government Committee work session and invited Todd Byreuther, chair of the Washington State Building Code Council, to brief members on four legislative‑mandated code amendments.
"We are in the final glide path on 4 legislative, legislative mandated bills," Byreuther told the committee, listing the items the council has packaged for CR-102 rulemaking and public hearings.
The council described the four headline items under rule development. Senate Bill 5553 creates a temporary emergency‑shelters appendix for the building code modeled on California guidance and covering a range of emergency shelters from tents to hardened shelter units. House Bill 2071 reduces the minimum habitable space for dwelling units from 190 square feet to 120 and trims kitchen clearance requirements from 36 inches to 30 inches, with the change embedded in the model code's section referenced by the council.
Byreuther also reviewed a multiplex‑housing appendix that inserts new provisions into the International Residential Code to allow structures up to three stories and six units, requires an NFPA 13R sprinkler system and forbids connection of multiple multiplex structures into a single building. He said that provision aims to keep the appendix aligned with the IRC’s prescriptive approach.
On single‑exit buildings, the council summarized Senate Bill 5491 proposals that would allow single‑exit approaches in limited circumstances up to six stories, apply to R‑2 apartment occupancies, and require full NFPA 13 sprinkler systems when used. The council emphasized these appendices are mandatory in the code text the council is adopting, though local jurisdictions' practical ability to use certain appendices depends on local fire department resources and other service levels.
"These appendices are going in as pre adopted for use across the state," said Dustin Curb, the council’s managing director, who noted jurisdictions that lack a professional fire department may be unable to use single‑exit provisions practically.
The council said it filed CR‑102 rulemaking on May 6, 2026, scheduled public hearings in Olympia and Spokane Valley and targeted a final adoption date in late August 2026 for the nonenergy codes; separate energy code hearings were expected in July and adoption in September under the schedule presented.
The committee pressed the council on an embodied‑carbon appendix. Byreuther said the council is considering two pathways: a triple‑pronged approach similar to some Cal‑Green measures and an alternate that isolates a whole‑building life‑cycle analysis (LCA); the council intends the embodied‑carbon appendix to be voluntary for local adoption and will consider public testimony received in hearings.
The council closed by inviting written and oral testimony at the posted hearings and said it will hold internal work sessions after the public record closes to review proposed changes coming from that testimony. The committee did not take action; the presentation was informational and the council will return as rules progress.
