2027 International Building Code®

Construction code for all building types, including those not addressed by the IRC. Establishes minimum requirements for buildings and structures across their life cycle to protect public health, safety, welfare, property, occupants, and emergency responders.

The provisions of this code apply to the construction, use and occupancy of every building or structure or any appurtenances connected or attached to such buildings or structures. The 2027 IBC® contains many important changes such as:

• Aligns the windborne debris definition with ASCE 7-22 and clarifies when buildings need protection, based on risk category and wind-speed maps.
• Classifies higher-education classrooms with 50 or more occupants as Group A-3. Pools and tennis courts without spectator seating are added as A-3 examples.
• Updates fire-safety and design rules for modern theaters and multipurpose performance spaces and removes outdated proscenium wall and curtain requirements.
• Adds provisions for manufacturing, recycling, energy storage systems, EV battery work, research, storage, and related code references for battery-related facilities.
• Allows greater height and more stories for certain residential (Group R) buildings protected by NFPA 13D sprinkler systems.
• Requires sprinklers and fire detection for larger combustible-waste sorting areas, and sprinklers where organic peroxides exceed set amounts.
• Indicates where sprinklers are required for lithium-ion and lithium metal battery storage.
• Rewrites the carbon monoxide (CO) source definition and related CO detection requirements.
• Updates occupant load factors for several space types using newer data on how those spaces are used.
• Coordinates apartment egress rules and allows some four-story Group R-2 buildings to use one exit when specific safeguards are met.
• Requires classroom doors and other occupiable-room doors to lock from inside the room, and exterior entry doors to lock from inside the building.
• Requires construction documents to list design criteria for systems designed by others and clarifies the registered design professional’s review and oversight role.
• Requires essential facilities in tornado-prone regions to protect glazed openings with impact-resistant glazing or protective systems.
• Expands flood hazard areas, including the 500-year floodplain, and ties elevation and load requirements to building risk category.
• Requires a registered design professional to prepare temporary and permanent bracing plans for certain cold-formed steel and wood trusses spanning 40 feet or more.