Building Energy Code

Summary

In November of 2015, the Commission adopted the 2015 International Building Code (IBC) with amendments. The Commission did not adopt the 2012 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) as part of this revision.

Much of the information presented in this summary is drawn from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Building Energy Codes Program and the Building Codes Assistance Project (BCAP). For more detailed information about building energy codes, visit the DOE and BCAP websites.

In 2009 S.B. 1182 created the Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission. The 11-member Commission was given the power to conduct rulemaking processes to adopt new building codes. The codes adopted by the Commission must be approved by the Legislature before they can take effect. If the Legislature fails to act on the recommended code, it will take effect by default.

The Commission recommended a residential code based on the 2009 IRC with Oklahoma amendments in March 2011, and it took effect July 2011. The Commission recommended a commercial code based on the 2009 IECC with Oklahoma amendments which took effect in November 2012. Local governments would be allowed to adopt "higher" standards than those recommended by the Commission.