North Carolina enforces the 2015 IECC commercial

Record of adoption

In force since

Jan 1, 2019

Legal citation

2018 NC State Building Code, Energy Conservation Code volume; G.S. 143-138

Adopted by

North Carolina Building Code Council (approved by Rules Review Commission)

Second reading

Agreed Oct 19, 2026

Applies

Statewide

State amendments

Major

Also called

NCECC

Same volume as the residential slot. ASHRAE 90.1 is accepted as the commercial compliance path (DOE says 90.1-2013); the code text cites ‘ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA 90.1’ without a year.

Coming next

• 2021 IECCPartial
  Adopted; start date not setAdopted, not yet in force2024 North Carolina State Building Code; S.L. 2025-2, s. 5.12

  Permanent rule Mar 24, 2025; base document the 2021 IECC with NC changes; effective date not set.

How North Carolina adopts the IECC commercial

• More than one path
• The legislature reviews the rules and can block them
• A recent law changed the process

The Building Code Council adopts the commercial energy provisions by rule; the 2024 edition went through legislative review under G.S. 150B-21.3. The General Assembly delayed the 2024 code set’s effective date (S.L. 2025-2 s. 5.12).

Cycle. Irregular.

Laws, rulings, and other actions

1. Jun 1, 2026Other action
   State licensing board notice: earliest possible effective date of the 2024 Code is May 1, 2027

   Says effective date will be at least one year after the General Assembly approves the Governor’s Residential Code Council nominees; not set and may be further delayed.

2. Mar 24, 2025Other action
   2024 NC Energy Conservation Code became a permanent rule after legislative review (G.S. 150B-21.3)

   Completed the rule process for the 2024 NCECC; it awaits the effective date set by S.L. 2025-2.

3. Mar 19, 2025Legislation
   H 47 / S.L. 2025-2, s. 5.122025 regular session, Disaster Recovery Act of 2025 - Part I

   Makes the 2024 State Building Code effective 12 months after the first day of the month following State Fire Marshal certification that publication/distribution is complete and the Residential Code Council is fully constituted.

   Enacted Mar 19, 2025, effective Mar 19, 2025

   ncleg.gov (opens in a new tab)
4. Dec 11, 2024Legislation
   S 382 / S.L. 2024-57, s. 1F.32023 session, enacted in Dec 2024

   Delayed the effective date of the 2024 North Carolina State Building Code from Jan 1, 2025, to Jul 1, 2025.

   Enacted Dec 11, 2024; delay to Jul 1, 2025, superseded by S.L. 2025-2

   ncosfm.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.

Read twice: a second, blind reading of the state’s record agreed with the first on Oct 19, 2026.

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

Evidence 2 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.

• “2018 NC Energy Conservation Code (based on the 2015 International Energy Conservation Code) effective 1/1/2019”

• “Until the to-be- determined effective date of the 2024 Code, the 2018 North Carolina State Building Code remains in full force”

Tracker cross-checks

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

• DOE’s energycodes.govCross-checkAgrees with the record

  Code edition: “2015 IECC and ASHRAE 90.1-2013”; Effective date: “01/01/2019”; Status/coverage: “Mandatory Statewide”

  energycodes.gov (opens in a new tab)Read Oct 17, 2026

Related pages

• See North Carolina’s IECC commercial on the map
• IECC commercial adoption in every state
• All six codes in North Carolina

Other codes in North Carolina

• NEC2020 NECVerified
• IBC2015 IBCVerified
• IRC2015 IRCPartial
• IFC2015 IFCPartial
• IECC residential2015 IECCVerified