Michigan Building Code: Which Editions Are Adopted

Direct answer

2021 Michigan Building Code, effective 9 April 2025; homes still follow the 2015 Michigan Residential Code in Michigan. Michigan Building Code built on the 2021 IBC and Michigan Commercial Energy Code built on the 2021 IECC and ASHRAE 90.1-2019, with the residential code still built on the 2015 IRC and 2015 IECC. A 2021 Michigan Residential Code and residential energy chapter, built on the 2021 IRC and 2021 IECC, were filed on 1 May 2025 to take effect on 29 August 2025, but a Michigan Court of Claims order of 7 July 2025 paused them while the Home Builders Association of Michigan's lawsuit is resolved. Until then the 2015 Michigan Residential Code, effective 8 February 2016, remains in force. This was checked on 2026-10-01 against Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Bureau of Construction Codes, which is the source that controls. The cross-state comparison further down this page comes from the ICC adoption chart dated January 2024, so where the two disagree the record above is the newer one.

Content and cited inputs reviewed by Harth team · Published 2026-09-07 · Updated 2026-10-01.

Which codes has Michigan adopted now?

2021 Michigan Building Code, effective 9 April 2025; homes still follow the 2015 Michigan Residential Code.

Michigan Building Code built on the 2021 IBC and Michigan Commercial Energy Code built on the 2021 IECC and ASHRAE 90.1-2019, with the residential code still built on the 2015 IRC and 2015 IECC.

Transition: A 2021 Michigan Residential Code and residential energy chapter, built on the 2021 IRC and 2021 IECC, were filed on 1 May 2025 to take effect on 29 August 2025, but a Michigan Court of Claims order of 7 July 2025 paused them while the Home Builders Association of Michigan's lawsuit is resolved. Until then the 2015 Michigan Residential Code, effective 8 February 2016, remains in force.

Local adoption: The Stille-DeRossett-Hale Single State Construction Code Act makes the Michigan codes apply statewide; local governments either enforce them or leave enforcement to the state Bureau of Construction Codes. Fire codes are separate: the Bureau of Fire Services regulates certain occupancies under NFPA standards, and many cities adopt the International Fire Code locally.

Checked 2026-10-01 against Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Bureau of Construction Codes. Confirm the edition and effective date for the specific permit jurisdiction before relying on it.

The cross-state record

For comparison across states, every I-Code the ICC Master I-Code Adoption Chart (January 2024) tracks, as it records Michigan. Where this disagrees with the record above, the record above is newer:

Michigan has a recorded edition year for 10 of the 17 codes: 2015 for the building, residential, mechanical, plumbing, fuel gas, residential energy, commercial energy, existing buildings and swimming pool and spa codes; 2012 for the green building standard. The fire, private sewage, property maintenance and performance codes appear as adopted by individual state or local agencies rather than as a statewide standard, so whether they apply depends on the permit jurisdiction for the project address. No adoption at all is recorded for the green construction, wildland-urban interface and zoning codes.

Source: ICC Master I-Code Adoption Chart (January 2024).

How Michigan compares with its neighbours

Statewide editions in force, checked 2026-10-01; “Local” means no state adoption, “(limited)” a state adoption for some buildings only, and * a state-titled code built on that edition.

Indiana, Wisconsin and Illinois differ from Michigan on the building code alone. A practice working across that border is working to two editions, whatever the office standard says.

Where Michigan sits in the national record

Of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, 17 enforce the 2021 IBC statewide, 10 a later edition, 7 an earlier one, and 17 have no statewide IBC edition in force. Michigan is at or ahead of the national middle on the building code, so the risk runs the other way: work arriving from a slower-moving state may be drawn to an older edition.

Across all 17 codes the January 2024 ICC chart tracks, Michigan has a recorded edition for 10, which ranked it 6th of 51. A low count is not a gap in regulation — it usually means the state legislates through its own documents, or leaves the discipline to local adoption.

What the chart does and does not tell you

The chart's own legend matters more than the numbers:

• An edition year means one or more state or local agencies adopted that edition. It does not mean every building in the state is designed to it.
• “Some jurisdictions only” is the chart's X: the code is in use somewhere in the state but is not the standard for all buildings.
• “Not adopted” is a blank cell — no state or local jurisdiction reported adopting that code.
• “State-written code” means the state publishes its own document in place of the model edition, so the model text is a reference, not the law.

ICC states plainly that not every jurisdiction notifies it of an adoption, and this chart is dated January 2024. Treat it as the starting point for a search, never as the answer.

How to confirm the edition that governs a Michigan project

1. Open Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Bureau of Construction Codes and find the currently adopted code list with its effective date.
2. Check whether the permit authority for the project address is the state or a local programme with its own adoption.
3. Read the state amendments alongside the model edition — an amended table or definition changes the requirement even when the edition matches.
4. Record the permit application date. A code change usually applies from an effective date, and applications filed before it are normally reviewed under the previous edition.
5. Get the answer in writing from the authority having jurisdiction before it drives a design decision.

Michigan code-basis worksheet

Fill this in once per project and keep it with the drawing set. Every row is a question a plan reviewer can ask, and the answer changes with the address and the application date, not with the state.

This worksheet records a determination; it does not make one. The authority having jurisdiction decides which edition and which amendments apply.

Where can you explore related guidance?

• Explore all code adoption guidance
• Ohio Building Code: Which Editions Are Adopted
• Indiana Building Code: Which Editions Are Adopted
• Wisconsin Building Code: Which Editions Are Adopted
• Illinois Building Code: Which Editions Are Adopted

Sources and method

Adopted editions transcribed from the ICC Master I-Code Adoption Chart (January 2024), reproduced with the chart's own legend so an “X” is not mistaken for a statewide adoption. ICC notes that not all jurisdictions report their adoptions and publishes updates at iccsafe.org/adoptions. The current edition, its effective date and the state amendments are published by Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Bureau of Construction Codes, which controls.

Source links

• iccsafe.org

• iccsafe.org

• michigan.gov