Maryland enforces the 2017 NEC, with exceptions

Record of adoption

Legal citation

COMAR 29.06.01 (State Fire Prevention Code); COMAR 09.12.50.02-1B (Model Performance Code)

Adopted by

State Fire Marshal / State Fire Prevention Commission (general buildings); Maryland Department of Labor (modular and state-owned buildings); local governments

Applies

Statewide, with exceptions

The state’s own Mar 18, 2026, matrix says 2017 NEC for the State Fire Prevention Code, which now incorporates NFPA 1 (2024).

Exceptions

• State matrix lists the 2020 NEC (Model Performance Code) for modular and state-owned buildings
• State Fire Prevention Code does not apply to one- and two-family dwellings or buildings in Baltimore City
• Local jurisdictions adopt and enforce their own electrical codes; several counties and cities are on the 2023 NEC

Coming next

• 2023 NECLead only
  No date yetIn developmentunknown

  State Board of Electricians January 2026 agenda lists ‘Discuss begin enforcing 2023 NEC CODE’ and ‘Discuss NEC 2026 committee’. No state rule or effective date found; several local governments have adopted the 2023 NEC themselves.

How Maryland adopts the NEC

• More than one path

No statute found that names an NEC edition. The State Fire Marshal enforces NFPA 70 through the State Fire Prevention Code (adopted by the State Fire Prevention Commission by regulation), Labor names the 2020 NEC for modular and state-owned buildings in its Model Performance Code, and local governments adopt their own electrical codes. A county ordinance says the State is the authority to adopt the NEC and the county will enforce a new edition upon state adoption.

Cycle. irregular; no fixed schedule found

Laws, rulings, and other actions

1. May 12, 2026Legislation
   HB 870, Large Buildings for Tomorrow Act, Chapter 4122026 regular session

   Enacted title requires counties and municipalities to notify the Department of the Environment of new-building permit applications of 35,000 sq ft or more; the first-reader text also had Labor adopt energy requirements by Oct 1, 2028.

   Enacted May 12, 2026, effective Oct 1, 2026

   mgaleg.maryland.gov (opens in a new tab)

How it was checked

Partial

Researched in the state’s own record. The seal stays broken until the passage is on file word for word.

The state’s record was last read on Oct 19, 2026, from six source pages.

Evidence 7 sources

Sources for the record itself come first, the state’s own records ahead of others. A label marks a source about something else, such as an exception. A source marked secondary is not the state’s own record.

• “National Electric Code, 2020 Edition (NFPA 70), except in Article 210.8(F) Ground-Fault Circuit Interrupter Protection”

• “the National Electrical Code as adopted and enforced by the State Fire Marshal”

• “2017 NEC (State Fire Prevention Code)”

• “to inspect electrical installations for conformity with the National Electrical Code”

• About an exception

  “2020 NEC (MPC)”

• About how the state adopts codes

Tracker cross-checks

Code adoption trackers are a cross-check. They are not Maryland’s own record.

• NFPA’s enforcement mapCross-checkDoes not agree with the record

  Maryland 2020 (7/1/2025) with MD amendments; 2023 update process underway (Effective date not established) [NFPA NEC enforcement table as of Aug 3, 2026]

  Read Oct 17, 2026

• IAEI’s code adoption pageCross-checkDoes not agree with the record

  Maryland NEC edition 2023, effective 3/1/2025, no note

  iaei.org (opens in a new tab)Read Oct 17, 2026

Related pages

• See Maryland’s NEC on the map
• NEC adoption in every state
• All six codes in Maryland

Other codes in Maryland

• IBC2021 IBCVerified
• IRC2021 IRCVerified
• IFCAnother model codeVerified
• IECC residential2021 IECCVerified
• IECC commercial2021 IECCVerified