CODES, A BRIEF OVERVIEW

The Summit County Building Inspections Department administers permitting and inspections for all unincorporated areas of Summit County and the towns of Dillon and Montezuma.

The adopted codes provide criteria for buildings’ design, construction, quality of materials, location, and use. A building permit is required for the following:

New building construction;
Additions and alterations to an existing building; Repairs to an existing building;
Changing the use or occupancy of an existing building; Moving a building;
Demolishing a building;
and
Abating unsafe buildings or structures.

Summit County has adopted the following codes:
· International Residential Code, 2006 Edition
· International Building Code, 2006 Edition
· International Mechanical Code, 2006 Edition
· International Plumbing Code, 2006 Edition

. International Energy Conservation Code, 2006 Edition

. Summit County Sustainable Building code, 2008 Edition
· National Electric Code, 2008 Edition

These codes have been developed by national organizations and are based on standard engineering practice, laboratory tests, and professional evaluation to assure that the criteria address safe and durable construction with practical methods of compliance.

Each jurisdiction has amended the codes to reflect specific local conditions such as snow loads (also included in the matrix), fire mitigation, fireplace restrictions, etc. Available at the building department is the 2006 Code Amendment Package.(pdf)