Important Update: FEMA Resumes the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) Grant Program

March 30, 2026 — On March 25, 2026, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) released a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) making $1 billion in funding available to states, local governments, territories and Tribal Nations through the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant program, “empowering them to take decisive, proactive steps to protect their communities from potential disasters like fires, floods, earthquakes and hurricanes.”

BRIC makes federal funds available for hazard mitigation activities to reduce future disaster costs. The program emphasizes the adoption and enforcement of modern building codes and limits capability- and capacity-building activities to those directly tied to infrastructure resilience.

As a result of consistent advocacy by ICC and others in the building safety industry, FEMA has set aside $81 million in new BRIC funding for building code adoption and enforcement activities: $56 million for a “State/Territory Building Code Plus-Up,” with a maximum allocation of $1 million per state and territory, and $25 million for a “Tribal Building Code Plus-Up” for federally recognized tribes.

States, territories and tribes are the primary applicants under the BRIC program. Building and fire departments, along with state-level code offices and agencies, are sub-applicants. FEMA federally funds 75 percent of a BRIC grant, with the remaining 25 percent provided by the grantee through non-federal cash contributions or in-kind matching of donated material, labor or services.

Applications for this latest round of BRIC funding are due to FEMA on July 23, 2026, at 3:00 PM ET. Each state or territory has a different deadline for sub-applicants. ICC encourages members to promptly contact their respective State Hazard Mitigation Officer for additional information on internal deadlines for sub-applicants.

Since its launch in 2018, ICC has been a strong supporter of the BRIC program, particularly of the mitigation- and building code-related benefits it provides to our members and communities across the nation.

If you have any immediate questions, please contact ICC’s Deputy Senior Vice President for Federal Relations, Aaron Levy, and Vice President for Fire and Disaster Mitigation, Karl Fippinger, for assistance.

ICC staff will also contact members whose previous BRIC awards were cancelled last spring to provide an update on the status of their funding.