Building Energy Code

NOTE: 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.

The Rhode Island Building Code Standards Committee adopts, promulgates, and administers the state building code. Compliance is determined through the building permit and inspection process by local building code officials and the State Building Commission. The local code official enforces the state building code. The State Building Commissioner enforces the code for all state buildings and buildings built on state-owned property.

2012 IECC and ASHRAE 90.1-2010 are the current standards for building codes in the State. The code was voted and approved with minor amendments on a public hearing on May 15, 2013, and was adopted on July 1st, 2013. 

History

HB 5986, signed in May 2009, directed the Rhode Island State Building Commission to update the state building code to include the 2009 IECC and ASHRAE 90.1-2007 and to develop a plan to achieve compliance in 90 percent of new and renovated building space by February 2017. The new codes went before the State Legislature's Legislative Oversight Committee for final approval in early 2010. After a period for training of code officials and other stakeholders, the 2009 edition of the State Energy Conservation Code took effect on July 1, 2010.

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