Healthcare proposals help shape 2027 I-Codes

The International Code Council (ICC) wrapped up the 2027 ICC code cycle with the Online Governmental Consensus Vote this past summer and is now in the process of publishing the 2027 editions of the I-Codes, with six of the 15 codes already available digitally. 

The ICC Committee on Healthcare (CHC) submitted a total of nine proposals for consideration and cosponsored an additional eight proposals with the Building Code Action Committee and others.

Of the nine proposals submitted solely by the CHC, a proposal to return hospitals without emergency rooms or surgeries back to structural risk Category 3 was the only one that failed to gain approval. The other proposals covered a variety of issues within the I-Codes and were successfully passed, including:

• Returned nursing homes to structural risk Category 3,
• Increased the allowable height of guards at occupied roofs,
• Included an exception for closers on corridor doors for Group I-1 occupancies,
• Aligned sound transmission requirements within Group I-1 occupancies,
• Aligned mechanical requirements for healthcare facilities within the International Mechanical Code, and
• Added a definition for the term “clinical need” within the I-Codes.

Of the eight cosponsored proposals, two did not gain approval. These proposals attempted to add an exception for fire sprinklers in Group R-4 occupancies and remove some language from the structural risk category tables that the CHC and its cosponsors argue could cause confusion. The proposals that gained approval covered the following issues:

• Aligned the use and storage of alcohol-based hand rub,
• Aligned smoke compartment separation requirements,
• Aligned fire partition requirements in the International Existing Building Code (IEBC),
• Included assisted-toileting requirements in the IEBC,
• Clarified carbon monoxide requirements, and
• Relocated healthcare specialty requirements into Chapter 3 of the IEBC.

With the conclusion of the 2027 code cycle, the CHC has begun preparing for the 2030 code cycle, which officially commences with the deadline for Group A proposals on Jan. 12, 2027, and will go through the Online Governmental Consensus Vote scheduled for the end of May 2029.

If you are interested in participating in the ICC CHC’s efforts for testimony at the hearings or at committee virtual sessions, please reach out to the ICC CHC Chair Jeff O’Neill, AIA, ACHA, CHFM, SASHE, vice president of plant operations at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, or Jonathan Flannery, MHSA, CHFM, FASHE, FACHE, senior associate director of regulatory affairs at the American Society for Health Care Engineering. They can be reached at Jeffrey.O’Neill@rwjbh.org and Jflannery@aha.org.