Roofing in Baltimore, Maryland

Required

The 2021 International Residential Code, as adopted by the State in the Maryland Building Performance Standards. COMAR 09.12.51.04A incorporates the "2021 International Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings," and COMAR 09.12.51.05A provides that "The IBC, IRC, and IECC, as modified in Regulation .04 of this chapter, shall constitute the Maryland Building Performance Standards," effective May 29, 2023 (50:10 Md. R. 407). The State's changes to the residential code are to its scope and appendices, its energy chapter, and notes removing mechanical, plumbing and electrical work from the Standards; none touches Chapter 9, Roof Assemblies. The State also points work on existing buildings to the Maryland Building Rehabilitation Code, the 2021 International Existing Building Code (COMAR 09.12.58.03A). The Standards are enforced in every part of the State: "Each local jurisdiction shall implement and enforce the most current version of the Standards and any local amendments to the Standards" (Public Safety Article 12-505(a)(1)(i)), and "the county in which a building or structure is located shall implement and enforce the Standards for that building or structure" unless a municipality does so itself (12-505(b)). A county or city may change them: "A local jurisdiction may adopt local amendments to the Standards," provided the amendments do not weaken the energy provisions, the automatic fire sprinkler provisions for townhouses and one- and two-family dwellings, or the "wind design and wind-borne debris provisions contained in the Standards" (12-504(a)(1)), and "If a local amendment conflicts with the Standards, the local amendment prevails in the local jurisdiction" (12-504(c)). A local jurisdiction must enforce a new State edition within 12 months after the State adopts it (12-505(a)(1)(ii)). The State proposed adopting the 2024 editions in the Maryland Register of June 26, 2026 (53:13 Md. R. 593); that proposal had not been adopted when this record was checked. This record did not read the local amendments of this jurisdiction except as stated here. Everything above is Maryland state law, the same everywhere in the State. In Baltimore the City enforces the Standards itself: its Department of Housing and Community Development issues building permits and inspects the work. The City's Building, Fire, and Related Codes, Part X, § 10-101 (Ord. 24-341), provides that "The International Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings (2021 Edition) is adopted as part of the Building, Fire, and Related Codes of Baltimore City," subject to the City's modifications listed in § 10-102. Those modifications amend Chapter 9, Roof Assemblies, in two places: Section 905.18 (Ord. 23-252) requires roof coverings over conditioned spaces on low-slope roofs (slope under 2:12) of new buildings and additions to have a minimum 3-year-aged solar reflective index of 78, and Section 911 sends rooftop decks and other rooftop structures to § 1510 of the Baltimore City Building Code; Sections 901 to 904 and 906 to 908 are as in the IRC.