Texas: 2012 IRC, local option

Record of adoption

In force since

Jan 1, 2022

Legal citation

Tex. Local Gov’t Code §214.212

Adopted by

Texas Legislature (statutory default); each municipality may adopt local amendments by ordinance

Second reading

Agreed Oct 18, 2026

Applies

Local option

Also called

2012 IRC, Local Gov’t Code §214.212

Statutory default only: the 2012 code applies in every municipality, subject to local amendments; the 2025 bill to move the default to 2018 (HB 871) did not pass.

Exceptions

• Applies to residential structures ‘in a municipality’; outside cities the statute adopts no IRC, except in counties that opt into Local Gov’t Code ch. 233 subch. F (§§233.151-.153), where new single-family and duplex construction in unincorporated areas must meet the IRC as of May 1, 2008 or the version applicable in the county seat.
• A city may add, modify or remove requirements by local amendment, only after a public hearing and by ordinance (§214.212(c), (e)), and may review ICC amendments made after May 1, 2012 (§214.212(d)).
• Municipalities, counties and emergency services districts may not require fire sprinklers in new or existing one- and two-family dwellings (Local Gov’t Code §250.011, added by HB 738), with exceptions including cities that had such a requirement on or before Jan 1, 2009.
• Coastal windstorm program: Texas Department of Insurance certification under the 2024 IRC (or 2024 IBC) is required for Windstorm Certificate of Compliance applications from Apr 1, 2026 (28 TAC §5.4013, effective Feb 18, 2026).

How Texas adopts the IRC

• More than one path
• The legislature names the edition in statute
• The legislature sets a default edition
• A recent law changed the process

The statute itself names the default edition (IRC as it existed on May 1, 2012), so moving the base edition takes a bill; HB 738 did that effective Jan 1, 2022, and added the public-hearing and ordinance requirement for local amendments. Cities may review ICC amendments made after May 1, 2012 and adopt them as local amendments. Bills to advance the default to 2023 (SB 674, 2023) and to 2018 (HB 871, which passed the House in 2025 but got no Senate action, and HB 306 in a 2025 called session) did not become law.

Cycle. Irregular; no statutory update schedule. The default changes only when the Legislature amends the statute (last done in 2021).

Laws, rulings, and other actions

1. Feb 18, 2026Other action
   TDI windstorm rule adopting the 2024 IRC and IBC (28 TAC §5.4013)

   Effective Feb 18, 2026; from Apr 1, 2026, TDI windstorm certificate applications must be certified to the 2024 IRC or 2024 IBC. It is a program rule, not a change to the municipal statutory defaults.

2. Aug 27, 2025Legislation
   HB 3062025, 89th Legislature, second called session

   Same idea as HB 871: would have changed the municipal default IRC and IBC from May 1, 2012 to May 1, 2018 (per the introduced text).

   Failed: filed Aug 27, 2025, no other action recorded

   capitol.texas.gov (opens in a new tab)
3. May 16, 2025Legislation
   HB 8712025 regular session, 89th Legislature

   Would have moved the municipal default IRC and IBC from the May 1, 2012 editions to May 1, 2018, effective Sep 1, 2025.

   Failed: passed the House May 16, 2025, received in the Senate May 19, 2025, no later action recorded

   capitol.texas.gov (opens in a new tab)
4. Feb 17, 2023Legislation
   SB 6742023 regular session, 88th Legislature

   Would have moved the municipal IRC and IBC defaults, the county fire code (IFC) floor, the county IRC reference and the state residential energy code reference to May 1, 2023 editions.

   Failed: referred to Senate Business & Commerce Feb 17, 2023, no later action recorded

   capitol.texas.gov (opens in a new tab)
5. Jun 7, 2021Legislation
   HB 7382021 regular session, 87th Legislature

   Set the municipal default IRC and IBC at their May 1, 2012 editions, required a public hearing and ordinance for local amendments, and added Local Gov’t Code §250.011 barring local fire-sprinkler mandates for one- and two-family dwellings (with exceptions).

   Enacted Jun 7, 2021, effective Jan 1, 2022

   capitol.texas.gov (opens in a new tab)

How it was checked

Verified

Two separate readings of the state’s own record agree, and 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 18, 2026.

The state’s record was last read on Oct 18, 2026, from six source pages.

Evidence 12 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.

• “the International Residential Code, as it existed on May 1, 2012,”

  “is adopted as a municipal residential building code in this state.”

• “Amended by: Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 315 (H.B. 738), Sec. 1, eff. January 1, 2022.”

• “relating to residential and commercial building requirements of municipalities, counties, and emergency services districts.”

  “the International Residential Code, as it existed on May 1, 2012”

• “that begins under an agreement made on or after January 1, 2022”

• About an exception

  “adoption of the 2024 International Residential Code (IRC) and 2024 International Building Code (IBC), to update the building standards for structures that the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) insures”

• About an exception

  “A municipality may review and consider amendments made by the International Code Council”

  “to the International Residential Code after May 1, 2012.”

• About an exception

  “(1) holds a public hearing on the local amendment before adopting the local amendment; and”

  “(2) adopts the local amendment by ordinance.”

• About an exception

  “This subchapter applies only to a county that has adopted a resolution or order requiring the application of the provisions of this subchapter and that:”

• About an exception

  “published as of May 1, 2008, or the version of the International Residential Code”

  “that is applicable in the county seat of that county.”

• About an exception

  “may not enact an ordinance, bylaw, order, building code, or rule requiring the installation”

• About an exception

  “Starting April 1, 2026, Windstorm Certificate of Compliance applications (WPI-1) must be certified”

  “in accordance with either the 2024 International Residential Code (IRC) or the 2024 International Building Code (IBC).”

• About a law or bill

  “Sent to the Governor | | 05/26/2021”

  “Signed by the Governor | | 06/07/2021”

Tracker cross-checks

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

• ICC’s code adoption mapCross-checkAgrees with the record

  Jun 30, 2021, press release: HB 738 makes the 2012 IBC and IRC the statutory municipal codes.

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

Related pages

• See Texas’s IRC on the map
• IRC adoption in every state
• All six codes in Texas

Other codes in Texas

• NEC2026 NECVerified
• IBC2012 IBCVerified
• IFCAnother model codeVerified
• IECC residential2015 IECCVerified
• IECC commercial2015 IECCVerified