History

The OUBCC Chief Executive Officer retired on July 31, 2022. The Commission has commenced a search for a replacement CEO. The adoption of the 2018 Edition of the International Residential Code and the 2020 Edition of the National Electrical Code went into effect on September 14, 2022.

The OUBCC gained two more positions due to a change in legislature making it a commisison of 13 instead of 11. The rulemaking initially started in 2019 and restarted in 2020 was completed. The 2018 editions of the International Building Code, International Existing Building Code, International Fire Code, International Fuel Gas Code, International Mechanical Code, and International Plumbing Code, as well as the 2017 Edition of the National Electrical Code, as modified, went into effect on September 14, 2021.

The committees created to look at the International Residential Code completed their reviews and made recommendations for proposed chagnes. Rulemaking commenced and continues into 2022.

The OUBCC created a new committee to review issues related to the enforcment of the International Fire Code in rural water districts.

In March the Governor issued an emergency declarion due to COVID and the March Commission meeting/Public Hearing to adopt the proposed rules for the rulemaking started in 2019, was cancelled. The commission gained 7 new commissioners due to the terming off of some members and the filling of unoccupied positions.

Rulemaking began again in later summer/early fall and was completed in 2021. The OUBCC created a technical committee to review the 2015 edition of the International Energy Conservation Code and Chapter 11 of the 2018 International Resdiential Code, as well as some other areas of the IRC that related to energy efficiency.

In 2019 technical committees reviewed the 2018 Editions of the International Building Code®, International Existing Building Code®, International Fire Code®, International Fuel Gas Code®, International Mechanical Code®, International Plumbing Code®, and the 2017 National Electrical Code®. Recommendations were made and approved for the adoption of the codes. Two of the committees also proposed emergency rule changes to the 2015 Editions of the International Building Code®, International Fire Code®, and the 2014 Edition of the National Electrical Code® related to the growing and processing of plant materials. Rule making commenced at the end of 2019 but was not completed.

The OUBCC voted to create several new technical committees. The first three technical committees were created to review the 2018 Edition of the Residential Code®. A commission committee was created to review several different editions of the International Energy Conservation Code® to determine which edition should be reviewed for possible adoption. A fifth committee was created to look at residential ice and water shield requirements for residential construction to see if any interim changes should be made to the adoption of the 2015 International Residential Code®.

The OUBCC approved a slate of volunteers to review the 2017 National Electrical Code and the committee has begun meeting. The OUBCC voted to review the 2018 Editions of the International Building Code®, International Existing Building Code®, International Fire Code®, International Fuel Gas Code®, International Mechanical Code®, and International Plumbing Code®.

Modifications were made to the International Building Code® and International Residential Code® in relation to Storm Shelters, to the International Mechanical Code®, and International Plumbing Code® to correct Scrivener's errors, went into effect on September 17, 2018. Previous modifications effective from September 15, 2017 until superseded can be seen by clicking on the code titles in this paragraph.

Rule modifications to the 2015 adopted codes went into effect on September 15, 2017. Those modifications included changes recommended by the Alternative Fuels Program Technical Committee (AFPTC) as well as some corrections to fix typos.

The Storm Shelter Technical Committee (SSTC) had their last meeting on November 1, 2017 and presented their proposed modifications to the 2015 adopted codes at the Commission meeting on November 14, 2017.

The Commission approved the creation of a technical committee to review the 2017 National Electrical Code® (NEC®, 2017) but had not approved a slate of volunteers for the committee before the end of the year.

Continuing Education Classes for municipal building inspectors were offered and are currently scheduled through June of 2018.

The OUBCC specialized technical committee, the Alternative Fuels Program Technical Committee (AFPTC), completed their review of several documents and made final recommendations to the OUBCC for modifications to be made to the OUBCC adopted codes as they relate to alternative fuels.

Rules for the 2015 Edition of the International Residential Code, became effective on November 1, 2016. Click the link above to see the modifications to the adopted code, effective until superseded on September 15, 2017.

The OUBCC created a specialized technical committee, the Storm Shelter Technical Committee (SSTC). The committee was assigned the task of reviewing the current storm shelter code requirements found in the 2015 Editions of the Oklahoma adopted and modified International Building Code® and International Residential Code®, against the 2014 Edition of the ICC 500®, ICC/NSSA Standard for the Design and Construction of Storm Shelters, as well as the 2014 Edition of FEMA P-320 Taking Shelter from the Storm® and the 2014 Edition of FEMA P-361, Safe Rooms for Tornados and Hurricanes®. The committee met for the first time in December of 2016 and began the review process. Meetings were expected to continue into 2017.

The rules for the 2015 Editions of the International Building Code®, International Existing Building Code®, International Fire Code®, International Fuel Gas Code®, International Mechanical Code®, and International Plumbing Code®, as well as the 2014 Edition of the National Electrical Code® were approved and went into effect on November 1, 2015. Click the links on the codes above to see the modifications to them, effective until superseded on September 15, 2017.

The OUBCC created three technical committees to review the 2015 Edition of the International Residential Code, made up of volunteers affected by the code. The technical committee recommendations were utilized to create the proposed draft permanent rules for residential building construction and were submitted for approval utilizing the Secretary of State's Office of Administrative Rules. The process continued into 2016 and if approved, the new rule would go into effect November 1, 2016.

The OUBCC created a specialized technical committee, the Alternative Fuels Program Technical Committee. This committee has been tasked with reviewing the Alternative Fuels requirements in the currently adopted 2015 editions of the International Fire Code® and International Fuel Gas Code® and the 2014 Edition of the National Electrical Code® as well as several alternative fuels industry specific standards to further modify the OUBCC's adoptions by bringing into the codes best practices the industry currently utilizes. Click Here to review minutes from the AFPTC meetings. The committee met from March through December of 2015 and meetings continue into 2016.

The OUBCC continued to roll out training classes for municipal building inspectors and will continue with more classes in 2016.

The OUBCC determined the seven commercial model building codes should be updated to more current editions and created new technical committees to review the 2015 Editions of the International Building Code®, International Existing Building Code®, International Fire Code®, International Fuel Gas Code®, International Mechanical Code®, and International Plumbing Code®, as well as the 2014 Edition of the National Electrical Code®. The committees made their code recommendations and draft permanent rules were created and submitted through the Secretary of State's Office of Administrative rules process.

The OUBCC requested all late fees be removed from the agency's legislation and was granted that request by the Oklahoma Legislature. Provisions to allow incentives were added, but the OUBCC has not yet created any incentives.

Provisions for the OUBCC to provide training to municipal building inspectors, was added to the OUBCC's legislation as well. The OUBCC was required to provide the training for free and utilizing OUBCC funds to cover the costs associated with the classes.

The OUBCC did not form any technical committees or adopt any new codes. A few sections of some of the adoptions from 2012 were left off the House Joint Resolution and those items were resubmitted through the rules process along with some changes to the administrative rules. The rules were not approved by the legislature so no changes were made to the adopted building codes.

The rules process to adopt the commercial model building codes was completed in 2012 and the 2009 editions of the International Building Code® (IBC®), International Existing Building Code® (IEBC®), International Fire Code® (IFC®), International Fuel Gas Code® (IFGC®), International Mechanical Code® (IMC®), and International Plumbing Code® (IPC®), as well as the 2011 Edition of the National Electrical Code® (NEC®). were adopted by reference and became effective on November 2, 2012 as the state-wide minimum commercial building codes for the State of Oklahoma.

Click the links above in the name of each code to see the modifications made to that code. Please note that the commercial code adoptions of the 2009 IBC®, IEBC®, IFC®, IFGC®, IMC® and IPC® and the 2011 NEC® have been superseded by the adoption of the 2015 IBC®, IEBC®, IFC®, IFGC®, IMC® and IPC® and the 2014 NEC®.

In the fall of 2012, the OUBCC rolled out an online reporting system for jurisdictions to utilize when submitting monthly reports.

The 2009 Edition of the International Residential Code® (IRC®, 2009) was adopted by reference with modifications and became effective as the State of Oklahoma's first state-wide residential code on July 15, 2011. Click the link above to see the IRC® 2009 modifications.

New technical committees were formed to review seven commercial model building codes. The technical committees were created from volunteers around the state in the trades affected by the commercial model building codes. The technical committees were tasked with reviewing and providing recommended modifications to the seven commercial model building codes to fit the needs of the State of Oklahoma.

The OUBCC utilized the technical committees' recommendations to the commercial model building codes to create proposed draft permanent rules. The rules were submitted utilizing the Secretary of State's Office of Administrative Rules process to adopt the 2009 editions of the International Building Code® (IBC®), International Existing Building Code® (IEBC®), International Fire Code® (IFC®), International Fuel Gas Code® (IFGC®), International Mechanical Code® (IMC®) and International Plumbing Code® (IPC®) as well as the 2011 Edition of the National Electrical Code® (NEC®).

The OUBCC hired the first employee of the agency, Billy Pope, Chief Executive Officer in July 2010.

The first technical committees were created by the OUBCC to review a model building code for residential construction. Three technical committees were created from volunteers around the state in the trades affected by the residential model building code. These technical committees were tasked with reviewing and making recommendations to change the residential model building code to fit the needs of the State of Oklahoma.

The OUBCC utilized the technical committees' recommendations to modify the residential building model code and created proposed draft permanent rules. The rules were submitted utilizing the Secretary of State's office of Administrative Rules process to adopt the 2009 edition of the International Residential Code® (IRC®, 2009). The IRC®, 2009 went through the rule adoption process that included both a public comment period and a public hearing on the proposed rule then was submitted to the Governor and Oklahoma Legislature for approval.

The Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission (OUBCC) was created by the Oklahoma legislature in 2009. The OUBCC was mandated to provide state-wide minimum building codes for residential and commercial construction for use by all entities within the state (O.S. 59 § 1000.20-1000.29). The OUBCC was to be funded through a permit fee attached to each permit issued by any jurisdictions within the State of Oklahoma.