Among its many responsibilities, the Connecticut Department of Administrative Services (DAS) sets building and maintenance standards so that the people who live, work, learn and play in our communities are protected, and new buildings have the energy efficiency and resiliency to withstand future environmental tests.
On October 1st, 2022, new state building, fire safety and fire prevention codes were adopted, making Connecticut a leader in the nation for updating to the very latest available model codes from the International Code Council and the National Fire Protection Association, satisfying the Governor’s Executive Order 21-3.
Developed in partnership with the Connecticut Codes and Standards Committee and the Connecticut Fire Prevention Code Advisory Committee, the codes passed through a comprehensive process involving public code change proposals, a public comment period and hearing, and legislative approval.
Those partner committees, made up of volunteer experts from a number of different professions, carried out many hours of detailed reviews of the national model codes over a period of months before recommending what changes should be made to the codes when adopted by the State of Connecticut.
The public was also invited to propose changes to the codes and each proposal received was reviewed by committee members and DAS staff, who jointly decided whether to incorporate those changes into the Connecticut codes.
Our DAS staff members supported the committees’ administrative and technical work, and prepared the draft codes for a public comment period. The drafts were available for residents to make comments in writing or in person at a public hearing, and ultimately submitted to the Legislative Regulation Review Committee (LRRC) of the Connecticut General Assembly.
Approval from the LRRC was received on September 27th, 2022, and the codes, known as the 2022 Connecticut State Building Code, 2022 Connecticut State Fire Safety Code and the 2022 Connecticut State Fire Prevention Code, took effect on October 1st, 2022.
Projects for which the primary permit is applied for after October 1st, 2022, will have to comply with the new codes, unless approval is obtained from the Office of the State Building Inspector and/or the Office of the State Fire Marshal through what is known as a modification (like a variance). Primary permit means, for example, the building permit for a new house where the secondary permits are the trade permits – electrical, plumbing, mechanical etc.
The DAS teams in the Office of the State Building Inspector (OSBI) and the Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) are available to answer questions on the new codes and provide training to industry groups. The OSBI and OSFM teams can be reached at das.osbi@ct.gov and osfm.engineer@ct.gov respectively.
Free online training on the new codes will be happening through the fall, winter and spring through DAS’s learning management system and is available to all.
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