Overview

The Office of the State Building Inspector and the Office of the State Fire Marshal review requests for modifications and waivers to the State Building Code and State Fire Safety Code, as well as the codes and regulations that apply to elevators and boilers etc., pursuant to the following Connecticut General Statutes:

• Connecticut State Building Code Modification (§29-254)
• Educational occupancy sprinkler exemption (§29-315)
• Accessibility Exemption (§29-269)
• Public parking garage or terminal accessibility exemption (§14-253a)
• Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators (§29-192)
• Lift or LULA elevators (§29-200)
• Safety Code for Boilers and Hot Water Heaters (§29-232)
• Historic structures (§29-259)
• Urban homesteading (§29-259)
• Connecticut State Fire Safety Code (§29-296)
• Connecticut State Fire Prevention Code (§29-296)

Effective January 1, 2026, the Office of the State Building Inspector and the Office of the State Fire Marshal will no longer be accepting mailed paper applications. All modification requests shall be sent to DAS.CodeModifications@ct.gov.

To request a modifications or waiver, or for an index of past State Building Code and State Fire Safety Code modifications and exemptions, see links below.

• Request for Modification 
• Index of State Building Code and State Fire Safety Code modifications

 

How To

Effective January 1, 2026, the Office of the State Building Inspector and the Office of the State Fire Marshal will no longer be accepting mailed paper applications. All modification requests shall be emailed to DAS.CodeModifications@ct.gov

 

Building Code, Accessibility, Public Parking, Elevators/Escalators, Boilers/Hot Water Heater, and Historic Structures Exemptions

Applicants should complete an OSBI and OSFM Request for Modification Form and submit it, along with supporting documentation if required, to the local building official for the project, who will in turn submit it to the Office of the State Building Inspector for consideration via email to DAS.CodeModifications@ct.gov. 

 

Fire Safety Code, Fire Prevention Code, and Educational Sprinkler Exemptions

Applicants should complete an OSBI and OSFM Request for Modification Form and submit it, along with supporting documentation if required, to the fire marshal for the project, who will in turn submit it to the Office of the State Fire Marshal for consideration via email to DAS.CodeModifications@ct.gov.

The State Fire Marshal and the State Building Inspector may jointly grant variations or exemptions from, or approve equivalent or alternate compliance with, the requirement in subdivision (2) of C.G.S. 29-315 ("Fire Extinguishing System Required For Certain Buildings"), where strict compliance with such requirement would entail practical difficulty or unnecessary hardship or is otherwise adjudged unwarranted. Educational sprinkler waivers may be submitted to either the local building official or the local fire marshal, who will in turn email to DAS.CodeModifications@ct.gov.

Transition to 2026 State Codes

The new state building and fire safety codes will apply to projects for which a permit is applied for after the effective date.

If you have a project that will be significantly impacted by this change in codes, you may apply for a code modification from the Office of the State Building Inspector and the Office of the State Fire Marshal (separate applications) to allow the project to continue under the 2022 state codes. This process, colloquially known as a grace period, will be available for approximately three months from the effective date.

Applications should state: "Requesting approval for this project to continue under the 2022 Connecticut State [Building / Fire Safety] code, because..." and briefly summarize why switching the project to the 2026 state codes would entail practical difficulty or unnecessary hardship.

The modification applications are first required to be submitted to the local building official and fire marshal, who will then forward to this office via email to DAS.CodeModifications@ct.gov.