Energy Code

The Harford County Government Department of Inspections Licenses, and Permits has adopted and enforced the provisions of the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) with amendments as made by the State of Maryland.  This page is intended to provide background of adoption at the State and Local Level along with providing guidance and best practices to assist in achieving compliance with the code as adopted by Harford County.  

Adoption of the IECC 

The State of Maryland and Local Jurisdictions are responsible for adoption of the IECC as stipulated by the Maryland Building Performance Standards (MBPS) Act found within Title 12, Subtitle 5 of the Public Safety Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland. The Maryland Building Performance Standards Act requires adoption of the International Building Code (IBC) and the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) which make up the MBPS.   The Annotated Code requires adoption of the latest edition of the IECC by the State, Maryland Building Codes Administration, within 18 months of printing by the International Code Council (ICC). As part of the MBPS the State is prohibited from making amendments that will weaken the code but is encouraged to include innovative approaches for design, equipment or method of construction that can be demonstrated to offer performance that is at least the equivalent to the requirements of the IECC. The latest State adoption of the MBPS can be found in COMAR  09.12.50.    

Local Adoption 

The MBPS stipulates that Local Jurisdictions must enforce the must current adoption of the MBPS no later than 12 months from being implemented by the State. To be in compliance with State law Harford County adopted the 2021 International Building Code (IBC), International Residential Code (IRC), International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) and International Swimming Pool and Spa Code (ISPSC) with amendments as part of Bill 24-005. Bill 24-005 established an effective date of May 29, 2024 for the adopted 2021 I-Codes. 

As part of the 2021 IECC adoption Harford County has included the 2021 IECC Maryland Amendment as an alternative compliance path to the IECC Prescriptive R Value methodology. This alternative path establishes minimum and maximum thermal values for the building thermal envelope that must be met and not exceeded as applicable. The adjusted values take into consideration the use of cost-effective materials that are readily available in the local market and take into consideration provisions that have already been approved for the 2024 IECC. The Maryland alternative path also includes an alternative additional efficiency package table in Section R408 that must be used in conjunction with the Maryland Alternative compliance path. When utilized an additional cumulative 6% of additional energy features must be selected to achieve compliance.   

Code Links 

Harford County Bill 24-005: https://apps.harfordcountymd.gov/Legislation/Bills 

Maryland Building Code Administration: https://labor.maryland.gov/labor/build/ 

COMAR 09.12.50: https://labor.maryland.gov/labor/build/buildcodes.shtml   

International Code Council IECC Code:https://codes.iccsafe.org/content/IECC2021P2  

Harford County Digital Codes: https://codes.iccsafe.org/codes/maryland/harford-county-md