Modern Building Codes:
A Path to Affordable, Resilient Housing
Research consistently shows that modern building codes deliver significant resilience and cost‑saving benefits without driving up home prices or reducing housing supply.
A major University of Alabama study examined 45 state adoptions of the International Residential Code and 2.7 million home sales across 26 states. Researchers found that adopting updated codes does not increase home prices. Housing prices decreased significantly following 32 adoptions, increased following only two and showed no significant change following 11. The study also found no evidence that updated codes reduce housing supply or push construction into neighboring jurisdictions.
Home Prices Following a Code Update
What the Research Shows: Modern Codes Do Not Drive Up Home Prices
Two recent National Bureau of Economic Research working papers examining decades of housing data found:
- No correlation between construction costs and home prices since the International Codes® were first published; and
- That differences in housing prices and rents across markets are driven primarily by income growth, not regulatory variation.
These findings are reflected in real‑world outcomes in communities that have adopted and enforced modern building codes.
Adopting and implementing modern building codes, like the International Codes® (I-Codes), further advance housing affordability by protecting homes and families from extreme weather and other hazards and reducing the cost of living by curbing utility bills, insurance premiums, and repairs and maintenance.
Improving Housing Affordability Today and Tomorrow
This research reinforces what many communities have experienced firsthand: modern codes improve building performance and long‑term affordability without constraining housing production.
While many factors contribute to housing affordability, ICC works to balance safety, durability and long-term value by influencing permitting efficiency, consistent standards, effective zoning practices, and resilient construction. This helps reduce cost pressures in the building process and over the life of the home.
From Research to Results: Community‑Level Evidence
Moore, Oklahoma: Stronger Codes Needed After Historic Tornados
NWS forecast Doug Speheger during a damage survey (per source), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
After Moore, Oklahoma, suffered three violent tornadoes from 1999 to 2013 – with the most recent causing 24 fatalities and $3 billion in damage – the city significantly strengthened its building codes. Researchers found that the change to a stronger building code had no effect on the price per square foot or home sales.
How Florida’s Building Codes Leadership Saves Lives
For more than 20 years, the Florida Building Code has helped save lives, protect property and safeguard Floridians’ way of life by improving building resiliency and ensuring that new construction is built to withstand Florida's challenging climate while also meeting affordability goals. Read more
Florida’s experience offers several key lessons for policymakers, builders and community leaders aiming to strengthen their built environment through effective code development and implementation. Learn more
How ICC Helps Save
Construction costs matter for individual projects and design choices, and large increases in those costs can place pressure on sales prices and rents. That’s why ICC continuously develops model codes with a focus on usability, clarity, and cost‑effectiveness – while maintaining essential life‑safety protections.
ICC is currently facilitating a multidisciplinary review of the International Residential Code to identify opportunities to streamline requirements, reduce unnecessary complexity, and lower costs without compromising safety or performance. This work reflects ICC’s commitment to ensuring that model codes evolve alongside construction practices, technology, and affordability needs.
ICC’s Work to Support Affordable Middle Housing
In recent years, middle housing has been the subject of increased interest from state and local jurisdictions exploring a variety of policy, zoning, and regulatory approaches. "Middle housing" refers to small, multifamily buildings that fall outside the scope of the International Residential Code® (IRC), including triplexes, fourplexes and small apartment buildings. The International Building Code® (IBC) addresses the full spectrum of multifamily building types, supporting developers, designers and jurisdictions in delivering safe, affordable and efficient housing.
The IBC's provisions are intentionally risk based, recognizing that different building types present different fire, egress, and life safety considerations warranting different regulatory approaches. This approach ensures that the IBC does not apply a one-size-fits-all approach to the varied construction types it addresses. In recent years, middle housing has drawn a growing interest from state and local jurisdictions as a way to expand housing supply and provide more attainable options within existing residential neighborhoods.
Here's how ICC is supporting these efforts:
- The 2027 I-Codes permit single-stair building up to four stories, actively facilitating compact, small-lot multifamily designs while preserving life safety.
- ICC released a new middle housing resource that helps practitioners understand their design options and navigate compliance more easily.
- ICC launched additional consensus-building forums to capture best practices and provide near-term support for jurisdictions and project teams working with middle housing.
To make applicable provisions for middle housing easier to navigate, ICC prepared a new reference publication focused on middle housing provisions from the IBC. Keep reading for more information.
Modern Zoning and Permitting Unlock Housing Supply
Zoning and permitting are two of several upstream systems that influence housing affordability. Like building codes, permitting and zoning decisions benefit from consistency, clarity and adaptability to local needs. A recent ICC survey found that more than 80 percent of jurisdictions have updated zoning, land-use or permitting practices within the past five years, signaling strong momentum toward reforms that can unlock housing supply and speed delivery.
Jurisdictions across the country are:
- Expanding opportunities for duplexes, accessory dwelling units (ADUs), townhomes, and smaller single‑family homes
- Reducing or eliminating parking mandates that increase project costs
- Aligning zoning and permitting rules to support modular and off‑site construction
How departments are speeding construction:
90% provide online customer portals,
80% conduct electronic plan review, and
25% utilize remote video inspections.
At the same time, permitting offices are adopting practical process improvements — such as online permitting portals, remote inspections, partial permits, temporary certificates of occupancy, and pre‑approved plan programs. These changes can reduce approval timelines significantly without compromising safety or oversight.
ICC’s survey results affirmed this trend, identifying online customer tools and electronic plan review as top strategies for accelerating approvals.
ICC works alongside local governments and national partners to convene leaders, share best practices, and help translate what is working on the ground into scalable, modern regulatory frameworks.
To promote housing affordability,
Building Safety Professionals recommended reducing setbacks and
lot size minimums,
accepting modular housing,
and utilizing by right permitting.
Innovation Is Essential to Scaling Housing Production
Expanding housing supply also requires modern construction approaches that are more resilient to labor shortages, weather disruptions, and supply‑chain volatility.
Off-site and modular construction offer a powerful
opportunity to deliver housing faster, more efficiently, and with less material waste by shifting work into controlled factory environments. ICC’s off-site construction standards help create consistency that allows builders and manufacturers to operate across jurisdictions with greater certainty and speed while maintaining quality and performance.
Up to 50%
Faster Construction
Up to 20%
Cost Savings
Nearly 80%
Less Construction Waste
Navigating Regulatory Complexity in Off-Site Construction
Currently, a patchwork of state and local regulations hampers the widespread adoption of off-site construction. This inconsistency poses a significant barrier, hindering the efficiency and regional delivery of housing solutions.
Regulatory consistency reduces costly redesigns, delays, and uncertainty that can increase the price of housing.
ICC’s standards, developed in collaboration with builders, designers, manufacturers, affordable housing advocates, and code officials, standardize best practices for off-site construction and ensure that off-site construction meets the same safety and quality expectations as traditional construction.
Modern building codes provide the foundation that ensures innovation delivers long-term value for homeowners, builders, and communities alike.
INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE
National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Building Systems Council Chairman Matt Belcher on why removing regulatory barriers through ICC's standards is key to scaling off‑site construction.
Read the op‑ed
Affordability Requires Practical, Coordinated Action
There is no single solution to the housing affordability challenge. Communities that make progress focus on the fundamentals – how land is zoned, how projects are permitted, how homes are built, and how safety and resilience are maintained over time.
ICC supports jurisdictions at every stage of this work by bringing together governments, industry, and experts to turn proven practices into scalable solutions. By modernizing how we plan, permit, and build, communities can expand housing supply while protecting the people who will call these houses their homes.
