Pennsylvania opened a 120-day public comment period on the 2024 building codes, running to February 2, 2027

Fri, 09 Oct 2026 08:38:45 -0400

Pennsylvania’s Uniform Construction Code Review and Advisory Council is taking public comment on the 2024 editions of the model building codes, the stage where anyone can argue for or against a change before the state decides which parts to adopt. The comment period opened Monday, October 5, 2026, runs 120 days and closes Tuesday, February 2, 2027, according to a Department of Labor and Industry notice in the Pennsylvania Bulletin of October 3. The Uniform Construction Code, or UCC, is the statewide building code that local permit offices enforce when they review a remodel or an addition. Our guide to permits and inspections in Conshohocken and the nearby townships explains how that works here.

The model codes come from the International Code Council, a nonprofit that publishes a new edition every three years. Pennsylvania’s version of the 2021 editions took effect January 1, 2026, and stays in force until the 2024 review ends and the department issues new regulations.

What the notice says

The council “seeks public comment on the updated sections of the 2024 International Codes Council codes with the exception of the accessibility provisions,” the notice reads. Since a May 2026 amendment to the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act, accessibility provisions go to a separate Accessibility Advisory Board.

Comments go through an online form linked from the council’s page on the department’s website. The department says each form can cover one code section, and a form that comments on several will be discarded. The act requires each comment to name the section, say whether it should be adopted, rejected or modified, and give a reason based on the section’s effect on public health and safety, its cost, including to the end consumer, and its technical feasibility. Questions go to Walter Schneider at (717) 787-3806, option 1, the notice says.

The council also chose sections to review that the 2024 editions did not change. The act calls these additional sections and requires a two-thirds vote of the council to add them. The department’s list names 30 of them, 12 in the International Residential Code, or IRC, the code for one- and two-family houses.

Additional sections the council chose to review in the 2024 cycle, by code. The residential code list names Table N1102.1.3 twice; it is counted once.
Code	Additional sections
International Residential Code	12
International Energy Conservation Code	9
International Building Code	3
International Existing Building Code	3
International Mechanical Code	3

Source: pa.gov

The council has 21 members appointed by the governor and legislative leaders. The department’s member list shows three seats vacant on October 9, including the one for a remodeling contractor. The council met on October 8 with a 2024 code review update on its agenda, and its next meeting is set for November 5 at 9 a.m.

Dates set so far in the 2024 code review
Date	Step in the 2024 review
2026-10-05	The 120-day public comment period opened
2026-10-08	Council meeting with a 2024 code review update on the agenda
2026-11-05	Next scheduled council meeting
2027-02-02	The public comment period closes
2027-04-08	Council meeting
2027-08-05	Council meeting

Source: pa.gov

What happens after the comments

The act sets the order of the review. After the comment period, technical advisory committees review every updated section and send recommendations on the ones that drew a comment asking for rejection or a change. The council then holds at least three public hearings, one in Harrisburg, one in the eastern part of the state and one in the western part.

Sections that drew no objection are voted on as a group and pass by a majority of the council. Any other updated section needs a two-thirds majority of the council to be adopted or modified. If a section is not adopted, the existing Pennsylvania rule stays in effect.

The council has 24 months from the start of its review to send a report to the Secretary of Labor and Industry. The department then has nine months to issue regulations adopting the report without change, and those regulations take effect 33 months after the review began. The act starts the comment period 30 days after the review begins. Counting back from October 5 puts the start near September 5, 2026, which would set the effective date in early June 2029 if the schedule holds.

How the last review went

The department’s timeline for the 2021 codes shows the pace. The International Code Council published those codes on January 31, 2021. The council began its review on October 13, 2022, opened comments on November 12, 2022, held its hearings from February 1 to March 28, 2024, and sent its final report to the department on October 1, 2024. The timeline listed a go-live date of July 13, 2025, 33 months after the review began. The Independent Regulatory Review Commission approved the update on October 16, 2025, it was published on November 8, and it took effect on January 1, 2026, according to the department. That was 1,796 days after the 2021 codes were published.

The review of the 2021 codes, from publication to the date they took effect in Pennsylvania
Date	Step	Days after the 2021 codes were published
2021-01-31	The International Code Council published the 2021 codes	0
2022-10-13	The council began its review of the 2021 codes	620
2022-11-12	The 120-day public comment period opened	650
2023-03-12	The public comment period closed	770
2024-02-01	First of three public hearings (east)	1,096
2024-03-28	Third public hearing (west)	1,152
2024-09-12	The council approved its final report	1,320
2024-10-01	The final report went to Labor and Industry	1,339
2025-10-16	The Independent Regulatory Review Commission approved the update	1,719
2025-11-08	The update was published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin	1,742
2026-01-01	The 2021 codes took effect in Pennsylvania	1,796

Source: pa.gov

Pennsylvania’s changes to the residential code

The state does not adopt the residential code as the International Code Council writes it. Section 403.21 of Pennsylvania’s code regulations excludes 39 provisions of the 2021 IRC and modifies 40 more. It keeps 15 provisions from the 2015 edition and 11 from the 2018 edition in place of the newer text.

How Pennsylvania adopted the 2021 International Residential Code
Change Pennsylvania made	Provisions
Excluded from the 2021 IRC	39
Modified from the 2021 IRC text	40
Kept from the 2015 IRC	15
Kept from the 2018 IRC	11

Source: pacodeandbulletin.gov

Several of those changes come up on ordinary remodels. When a one- or two-family house has an alteration, repair or addition, Pennsylvania does not require the new smoke alarms to be interconnected, and battery-operated alarms that are not interconnected must be installed. Stair risers can be up to 8 1/4 inches high and treads as shallow as 9 inches. In a basement, beams spaced at least 36 inches apart need 6 feet 6 inches of clear height under them. Some of these provisions are back under review. The additional sections include R704.2.4, on wood soffit panels, and the residential insulation tables N1102.1.2 and N1102.1.3, all of which Pennsylvania modified in the current code.

Pennsylvania rules now in force for parts of the 2021 International Residential Code that a remodel often touches
Provision	Reference	Pennsylvania rule now in force
Smoke alarms in an alteration or addition	IRC R314.4	Interconnection is not required in one- and two-family dwellings undergoing alterations, repairs or additions; battery-operated alarms that are not interconnected must be installed
Stair risers	34 Pa. Code § 403.21(a)(7)(ii)	Maximum riser height of 8 1/4 inches with no more than 3/8 inch variation within a flight
Stair treads	34 Pa. Code § 403.21(a)(7)(ii)	Minimum tread depth of 9 inches from nosing to nosing
Stair width and headroom	34 Pa. Code § 403.21(a)(7)(ii)	At least 3 feet of clear width and 6 feet 8 inches of clear headroom for the entire run
Ceiling height under beams	IRC R305.1	Beams spaced at least 36 inches apart need 6 feet 6 inches of clear height from the finished floor below
Vapor retarder under a slab	IRC R506.2.3	A 6 mil retarder in place of the 10 mil Class A retarder in the 2021 text
Kitchen island receptacles	IRC E3901.4.2	Section excluded

Source: pacodeandbulletin.gov

What this means for a remodel

A permit you apply for now is reviewed under the 2021 codes with Pennsylvania’s changes. The act also covers jobs that straddle a code change. A permit issued before new regulations take effect stays valid, and the work can be finished under it. If that work is not actively carried on within two years of the new regulations’ effective date, or a shorter period set by local ordinance, a new permit is needed. If a design or construction contract was signed before the effective date, the permit can be issued under the code in effect when the contract was signed, as long as the application goes in within six months of the effective date or a shorter local period.

For a large job planned two or three years out, ask the contractor or designer which code edition the drawings follow, and ask the permit office which edition it will apply on the date you expect to file. If you have a view on a specific section, such as the smoke alarm rule for older houses, the form takes one section at a time until February 2, 2027.

Caveats

The text of the 2024 changes is in the International Code Council’s own publications. Which of them Pennsylvania adopts depends on the council’s votes. The notice does not state when the review began, so the 2029 date is an estimate, and the 2021 review ran more than five months past its 33-month mark. Conshohocken, West Conshohocken, Plymouth and Whitemarsh can each add local requirements within the limits the act sets, so check with the office that issues your permit. This is general information about the code process. For what a rule requires on your house, ask the permit office or a licensed design professional.

Uniform Construction Code | Conshy Contractor

Pennsylvania opened a 120-day public comment period on the 2024 building codes, running to February 2, 2027

What the notice says

What happens after the comments

How the last review went

Pennsylvania’s changes to the residential code

What this means for a remodel

Caveats