Senate passes bill to delay commercial building code enforcement

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A bill to delay the enforcement of new commercial building codes will head to Gov. Tony Evers‘ desk after a senate vote.

The Wisconsin State Senate passed Assembly Bill 450, which would delay the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services from enforcing new commercial building codes to spring 2026. The codes, based off the 2021 International Building Code, were published in August. DSPS began enforcing them in November.

The vote was 20-13 with large support from Republican lawmakers. Two Democratic lawmakers approved the bill.

Architects, developers and construction industry experts have said implementation of the new codes will cause disruption to projects and raise the cost of building.

DSPS officials said they weren’t asking builders to adjust plans that were already approved.

Enforcement was scheduled to start in September, but the agency pushed the deadline to October after feedback from the construction industry. The deadline was delayed again to November.

Building envelope plans submitted under the 2015 Wisconsin Commercial Building Code by the end of October were grandfathered in, DSPS officials said. Supplemental plans for projects, such as HVAC, refrigeration or fire suppression systems, must follow the code a building was approved under, even if they come months later, officials added.

The new commercial building code comes after a Wisconsin Supreme Court decision in July in Evers v. Marklein, determining that a legislative committee’s action to block administrative rules were against the state constitution. The decision opened the gates for different administrative rules from the Evers administration to go into effect.

Wisconsin adopted a statewide building code in 2015 based on the International Building Code with some adjustments specific to the state. The updated code focuses more on energy savings for owners and building users, which has been supported by members of the heating and cooling industry.