Technical Opinions on codes and standards are an exclusive benefit of ICC Membership. Staff Code Opinions and Committee Interpretations are intended to provide technical support and clarification of code text for adopting jurisdictions, design professionals, and members of the construction industry.
Staff Code Opinions
Staff Code Opinions are issued by ICC technical staff and are verbal or written. Written staff code opinions will be issued by ICC staff after receipt of a written request. All requests, verbal and written, require your ICC Membership number.
- Verbal: Call 1-888-ICC-SAFE (1-888-422-7233), ext. 338077
- Online (ICC members must log in using their email address and password. View instructions on logging in to our new site for the first time.)
Written Staff Code Opinions
Requests for written staff code opinions must be submitted to ICC in writing. When requesting a written staff code opinion, you must include the following information:
- ICC Individual or Compay/Jurisdiction Membership Number
- Member Name and Job Title
- Company Name or Jurisdiction Affiliation
- Mailing Address
- Phone Number
- Email Address
- Specific Legacy or ICC International Code (i.e. Building Code, Fire Code, etc.)
- Code Publication Year
- Applicable Code Section
- Question for Staff Code Opinion
Submit Written Staff Code Opinion Requests by mail to any of the ICC District Offices.
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Staff code opinions issued by ICC technical staff do not represent the official position of the International Code Council. The final authority of code opinions is the responsibility of the code official. Staff opinion is not intended to influence the code official.
Committee Interpretations
Committee Interpretations are processed in accordance with ICC Policy CP # 11, Committee Interpretations on International Code Provisions, mandated by the ICC Board of Directors. Due to the extensive time requirement for processing Committee Interpretations, they are not intended to resolve code issues that are time sensitive.
Request a Committee Interpretation
Any ICC member may request a written Committee Interpretation in accordance with ICC Policy CP # 11.
- Requests for Committee Interpretations must be submitted in writing.
- Questions must be written such that they can be answered "yes" or "no."
- Questions requiring an "essay" type answer will not be considered, or will be returned to the petitioner to be rewritten.
- Each question must address a specific code section. Questions addressing multiple code sections will be processed as a separate interpretation for each code section.
- Each request may contain multiple questions regarding a single specific code section.
All requests for Committee Interpretations must contain the following information:
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Petitioner
- ICC Individual or Company/Jurisdiction Membership Number
- Member Name and Job Title
- Company Name or Jurisdiction Affiliation
- Mailing Address
- Phone Number
- Email Address
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Question
- Specific ICC International Code (i.e. Building Code, Fire Code, etc.)
- Code Publication Year (limited to the 2 most recent editions)
- Applicable Code Section
- Questions for Interpretation
- Supporting Documentation as deemed necessary
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Submit Written Committee Interpretation Requests to:
- John Battles
- Vice President / Architectural & Engineering Services
- International Code Council
- Birmingham District Office
- 900 Montclair Road
- Birmingham, AL 32513
Committee Interpretations approved by the ICC Interpretation Committee represent the official position of the International Code Council; however, the final authority of code interpretations is the responsibility of the code official.