Ohio

Prior to July 1, 1979, the rules of the Ohio Board of Building Standards (BBS) were compiled in a document known as the Ohio Building Code. On October 20, 1978, the Board adopted a rule, effective July 1, 1979, repealing most of the existing Ohio Building Code. The resulting collection of model code sections and superseding Ohio provisions, together with the CABO Model Energy Code (MEC), among others, comprised the OBBC. Among the previous updates:

• The 1993 MEC and ASHRAE 90.1-1989 went into effect July 1, 1995.
• On March 1, 1998, the 1995 MEC was adopted and became effective.
• On March 1, 2005 the 2003 IECC went into effect.

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2006 IECC Update: The 2006 IECC went into effect on January 1, 2008. On March 28, 2008, the Ohio Board of Building Standards made a request to the Governor's Office for an executive order to authorize the filing of emergency rules. On March 31, 2008, the Governor signed Executive Order 2008-06S authorizing the BBS to file the emergency rules. BBS filed the emergency rules the same day; after March 31, construction documents for all residential one-, two-, and three-family dwelling projects were required to only meet or exceed the 2003 IECC and the 2005 NEC to comply with the RCO. Non-residential construction would continue to use 2008 OBC, referencing the 2006 IECC and the 2008 NEC for compliance throughout this time period.

After a review of the 2006 IECC by a specially appointed Ad-Hoc committee consisting of several home builders, staff from the Ohio Energy Office, an energy rater, and BBS staff, the committee made a recommendation to propose re-adoption of the 2006 IECC with the addition of a unique Ohio prescriptive path that offers another method of compliance for one-, two-, and three-family dwellings. A public hearing was held on November 7, 2008 to receive public comments.

2009 RCO Update: Effective January 1, 2009, BBS re-adopted the 2006 IECC and added an additional prescriptive option for demonstrating energy code compliance for one-, two-, and three-family dwellings. Compliance can be demonstrated by the requirements of the 2006 IECC, OR meeting the requirements of sections 1101-1103 of Chapter 11 of the Residential Code of Ohio, OR by meeting the state code's new Prescriptive Energy Requirements (section 1104).

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2011 OBC Update: The BBS set a November 1, 2011 effective date for the code updates to the Ohio Building Code, Ohio Mechanical Code and the Ohio Plumbing Code. On March 7, 2011, the Ohio legislature’s Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR) approved a January 21 BBS recommendation to update the state’s nonresidential energy standards.

Part D of Amendments Group LXXXIII (see items 14-21) would update the Ohio Building Code (OBC) to incorporate the 2009 International Building Code (IBC), including its references to the 2009 IECC and ASHRAE 90.1-2007 as compliances paths for energy efficiency for non-residential buildings (see page D-622, rule number 4101:1-13-01). The OBC currently references the 2006 IBC.

2013 RCO Update: On May 28, 2012, the BBS updated the Residential Code of Ohio (RCO) to reference the 2009 IECC with two state-developed alternative compliance paths. The new code will be effective for new and renovated homes on January 1, 2013. Ohio had not updated its residential building energy code since 2009, and the previous code was based on the 2006 IECC with substantially weaker alternative compliance paths.

• Raise the minimum insulation for exterior walls from R-13 to R-20, or R-13 plus a layer of insulating sheathing.
• Raise the minimum R-value of basement walls from R-5 to R-10
• Require that carbon-monoxide detectors be installed outside each bedroom in a home that uses gas or propane or includes an attached garage.
• Require that at least 75 percent of light bulbs in new homes be high-efficiency, such as compact fluorescent bulbs.
• Mandate that homes meet an air-tightness standard, which can be shown using a blower-door test, as required by one of the three compliance paths (not effective until January 2014)
• Require that floor joists between the basement and first floor that are less than 10 inches deep include a gypsum or wood layer underneath for additional fire protection.
• Increase the efficiency of windows by reducing the maximum U-value from .40 to .35.
• Remove the requirement that sump pumps and garage door openers be plugged into GFCI outlets after homeowners complained that sump pumps and garage openers were kicking off.

Information last updated January 14, 2013