| IBC — International Building Code | 2021 IBC (as modified — the Maryland Building Performance Standards are the 2021 IBC + IRC + IECC with the COMAR 09.12.51.04B-D modifications; NOT the 2024 I-Codes, which Maryland has not adopted as of 2026-03-18) | COMAR 09.12.51.04A(1) and .05A; authority Md. Code Ann., Public Safety Art. 12-503, 12-507(a)(2), 12-508(g), 12-510(d) · source ↗ |
| IECC — International Energy Conservation Code | 2021 IECC (2021 International Energy Conservation Code, International Code Council), as modified by the Maryland modifications at COMAR 09.12.51.04D(1)-(8). NOT the 2024 IECC — Maryland has not codified a 2024 adoption as of 2026-09-08, notwithstanding the standing 18-month duty in Public Safety Art. 12-503(a)(2). | COMAR 09.12.51.04A(3); Md. Public Safety Art. 12-503, 12-507(a)(2), 12-508(g), 12-510(d) · source ↗ |
| IFC — | NONE — MARYLAND ADOPTS NO EDITION OF THE INTERNATIONAL FIRE CODE. THE STATE FIRE PREVENTION CODE IS NFPA, NOT ICC: NFPA 1 FIRE CODE (2024 EDITION) AND NFPA 101 LIFE SAFETY CODE (2024 EDITION), both incorporated by reference at COMAR 29.06.01.08 and .07 respectively, effective 2025-06-23. | COMAR 29.06.01.08 (NFPA 1 Fire Code, 2024 Edition, incorporated by reference) and COMAR 29.06.01.07 (NFPA 101 Life Safety Code, 2024 Edition), as amended eff. 2025-06-23 at 52:12 Md. R. 599; authority Md. Code Ann., Public Safety Art. §§ 6-206 and 6-501; adopted by the State Fire Prevention Commission. NO INTERNATIONAL FIRE CODE ADOPTION EXISTS IN MARYLAND. · source ↗ |
| IMC — International Mechanical Code | NO FIXED EDITION — MARYLAND ADOPTS THE INTERNATIONAL MECHANICAL CODE BY ROLLING REFERENCE. As amended effective 2026-04-13, COMAR 09.15.05.01A adopts, verbatim, "the most recent version of the following Codes as they may be amended, modified, or updated from time to time": (1) the International Mechanical Code (ICC) and (2) the International Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings (ICC), EXCLUDING Chapters 1-11 and 25-44. NO EDITION YEAR APPEARS IN THE CURRENT RULE. The governing edition is therefore whatever the ICC has most recently published — the 2024 IMC today, and the 2027 IMC automatically on its publication, with no Maryland rulemaking in between. THE PREVIOUS RULE NAMED THE 2018 IMC (fixed reference, amended eff. 2019-12-16); the 2026-04-13 amendment replaced that fixed year with the rolling formula. SECOND MARYLAND CODE TYPE ON A ROLLING REFERENCE — the State Plumbing Code went rolling at COMAR 09.20.01.01B eff. 2025-11-24 (row a1cbd4bd). THIS IS A DELIBERATE MARYLAND POLICY PATTERN, NOT A DRAFTING ACCIDENT. | COMAR 09.15.05.01A (State Board of Heating, Ventilation, Air-Conditioning, and Refrigeration Contractors — Incorporation by Reference), as amended effective 2026-04-13, which amendment also REPEALED COMAR 09.15.05.02 (Modifications to the International Mechanical Code) and 09.15.05.03 (Provisions Added to the International Mechanical Code); authority Md. Code Ann., Business Regulation Art. §§ 9A-205 and 9A-310(a)(1)(iii). Carve-out at 09.15.05.01B for work areas subject to the Maryland Building Rehabilitation Code, Md. Code Ann., Public Safety Art. § 12-1004. The Maryland Building Performance Standards (COMAR 09.12.51.04A) do NOT incorporate the International Mechanical Code. · source ↗ |
| IPC — International Plumbing Code | NO FIXED EDITION — MARYLAND ADOPTS THE INTERNATIONAL PLUMBING CODE BY ROLLING REFERENCE. COMAR 09.20.01.01B adopts "the most recent version" of the IPC "as they may be amended, modified, or updated from time to time" and names NO edition year. As of 2026-09-08 that reference resolves to the 2024 IPC (the most recent edition the ICC has published; the 2027 I-Code cycle is still in development). The operative edition CHANGES BY ITSELF when the ICC publishes, with no Maryland rulemaking — so "2024 IPC" is a computed answer with a date attached, not an adopted year. | COMAR 09.20.01.01B (State Plumbing Code — Incorporation by Reference), as amended eff. 2025-11-24 at 52:23 Md. R. 1138; authority Md. Code Ann., Bus. Occ. & Prof. Art. §§ 12-101(p), 12-205(a), 12-205 and 12-207 · source ↗ |
| IRC — International Residential Code | 2021 IRC (2021 International Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings, International Code Council), as modified by the Maryland modifications at COMAR 09.12.51.04C(1)-(6). NOT the 2024 IRC — Maryland has not codified a 2024 adoption as of 2026-09-09, notwithstanding the standing 18-month duty at Public Safety Art. 12-503(a)(2). | COMAR 09.12.51.04A(2) and .05A (Maryland Building Performance Standards, Dept. of Labor); authority Md. Code Ann., Public Safety Art. 12-503, 12-507(a)(2), 12-508(g), 12-510(d) · source ↗ |
| NEC — National Electrical Code (NFPA 70) | NO STATEWIDE EDITION — MARYLAND ADOPTS NO NAMED EDITION OF THE NATIONAL ELECTRICAL CODE ANYWHERE IN STATE LAW OR REGULATION. ELECTRICAL IS THE ONE MAJOR TRADE MARYLAND LEAVES ENTIRELY TO ITS COUNTIES, AND THE STATE SAYS SO IN ITS OWN BUILDING REGULATION.
*** THE DECISIVE TEXT, VERBATIM FROM THE MARYLAND BUILDING PERFORMANCE STANDARDS MODIFICATION AT COMAR 09.12.51.04B(8): "The subject matter of this chapter is not within the scope of the Maryland Building Performance Standards. For the applicable electrical requirements, refer to the local electrical code and the National Electrical Code as adopted and enforced by the State Fire Marshal." The Department of Labor therefore DELETES the IBC electrical chapter from the MBPS and points the reader at (i) the LOCAL electrical code and (ii) an NEC "as adopted and enforced by the State Fire Marshal".
*** AND THE POINTER DOES NOT LAND — THIS IS THE FINDING. The State Fire Marshal's own instrument is the Fire Prevention Code, COMAR 29.06.01, and its incorporation-by-reference section .06B INCORPORATES EXACTLY TWO DOCUMENTS: "(1) NFPA 1 Fire Code (2024 Edition). (2) NFPA 101 Life Safety Code (2024 Edition)." IT NAMES NO NEC EDITION. I read the FULL TEXT OF THE ENTIRE SUBTITLE 29.06 and searched it: the National Electrical Code IS NEVER NAMED, and "NFPA 70" appears only THREE times, each inside adopted NFPA 1 text as a downstream reference rather than an adoption — at NFPA 1 s 11.1 (clear-space exception, verbatim: "Where other specialized dimensions are required or permitted by NFPA 70"), s 65.10.3.16 ("All electrical wiring shall be in accordance with NFPA 70") and s 65.10.4.9.1.1 ("Temporary wiring installed in a temporary structure, including tents and canopies, shall comply with NFPA 70").
*** SO MARYLAND'S STATEWIDE ELECTRICAL FLOOR IS A FLOATING, UNNAMED REFERENCE: whatever NFPA 70 edition the adopted NFPA 1 (2024 ed.) itself references, reached only through NFPA 1's internal citations, and never fixed by a Maryland instrument. THE EDITION ACTUALLY ENFORCED ON A MARYLAND JOB IS SET BY THE COUNTY, NOT BY THE STATE. Any answer of the form "Maryland is on the 20xx NEC" is unsupported by Maryland law.
*** STATUTORY CONFIRMATION, READ FIRST-HAND: Md. Code Ann., Public Safety Art. s 12-503 commands the Department to adopt as the MBPS "the International Building Code, including the International Energy Conservation Code, with the modifications incorporated by the Department" — NO ELECTRICAL CODE APPEARS IN THE STATUTE AT ALL. And Public Safety Art. Title 12, Subtitle 6 (ss 12-601, 12-602, read first-hand) is about ELECTRICAL INSPECTORS, NOT CODE ADOPTION: s 12-601(b) defines a certified nongovernmental electrical inspector as one certified to inspect "for conformity with the National Electrical Code or any adopted local electrical code or amendments" — A FLOATING REFERENCE WITH NO EDITION — and s 12-602(b)(1) provides verbatim that "This subtitle does not supersede any local law or ordinance of a local jurisdiction that establishes standards or qualifications for electrical inspectors and inspections within that local jurisdiction." The statute names the NEC three ways and pins it never.
*** WHY THIS IS A FIRST-CLASS ANSWER AND NOT A GAP: it was established from the ADOPTING INSTRUMENTS THEMSELVES — the MBPS incorporation section, the MBPS electrical modification, the Fire Prevention Code incorporation section, the full text of the whole fire subtitle, and two statutes — not from failing to find something. Same shape as the Maryland IFC row (no IFC; NFPA instead) and the Delaware IBC/IRC rows. | PRIMARY: COMAR 09.12.51.04 (Maryland Building Performance Standards — Incorporation by Reference) incorporates ONLY the 2021 International Building Code, the 2021 International Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings and the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code, and the modification at COMAR 09.12.51.04B(8) EXPRESSLY PUTS ELECTRICAL OUTSIDE THE MBPS AND REFERS TO "the local electrical code and the National Electrical Code as adopted and enforced by the State Fire Marshal". SECOND PRIMARY: COMAR 29.06.01.06B (Fire Prevention Commission — Fire Prevention Code, Incorporation by Reference) incorporates ONLY "NFPA 1 Fire Code (2024 Edition)" and "NFPA 101 Life Safety Code (2024 Edition)", eff. 2025-06-23 at 52:12 Md. R. 599, authority Md. Code Ann., Public Safety Art. ss 6-206 and 6-501 — NO NEC EDITION IS NAMED IN THAT SECTION OR ANYWHERE IN SUBTITLE 29.06. STATUTES: Md. Code Ann., Public Safety Art. s 12-503 (MBPS = IBC incl. IECC, plus the 2018 IgCC by 2023-01-01; no electrical code); s 12-601(b) and s 12-602(b)(1) (electrical INSPECTOR certification, floating NEC reference, local ordinances expressly not superseded). THE STATUTE THAT LEAVES ELECTRICAL LOCAL IS PUBLIC SAFETY ART. s 12-602(b)(1), read together with the s 12-503 enumeration that omits electrical and the COMAR 09.12.51.04B(8) carve-out. · source ↗ |