For a building in Delaware, first record two reviewers: the county or municipal building department for the building code, and the State Fire Marshal for fire and life safety, unless the site is in a political subdivision whose own fire marshal’s office was created before January 1, 1959 and so holds exclusive jurisdiction under 16 Del. C. § 6612(c). Then check that the code analysis cites both bases, because Regulation 702 requires new buildings to meet the State Fire Prevention Regulations and any building code in effect: the local IBC or IRC edition (Sussex County’s history page says it began enforcing the 2021 IBC and IRC on January 1, 2023), and NFPA 1 and NFPA 101 (2024) with Delaware amendments, including Delaware’s own sprinkler triggers such as buildings exceeding 10,000 square feet of aggregate gross floor area, with limited exceptions. Plumbing follows the 2021 IPC as amended by the Division of Public Health, electrical work the 2023 NEC, energy the 2024 IECC or ASHRAE 90.1-2022 as each local code takes it up, and facilities the State builds, leases, or finances need a letter of approval from the Architectural Accessibility Board. AI can flag conflicts; the design professional, the building official, and the fire marshal decide compliance.
Which Delaware codes apply to a set of drawings?
Delaware has no single statewide building code. 16 Del. C. § 7601 lets the Levy Court of Kent County and the County Councils of New Castle and Sussex counties adopt and enforce building, plumbing, electrical, and similar codes, and cities and towns enforce their own. Four statewide layers then apply to almost every set. Fire and life safety: under 16 Del. C. § 6604 the State Fire Prevention Commission’s regulations have the force of law in every county, city, and political subdivision, and 16 Del. C. § 6612 has the State Fire Marshal enforce the laws on fire prevention, fire control and detection equipment, and the means and adequacy of exit (except in buildings used wholly as dwellings for no more than two families), and review plans before construction for all new buildings and additions, changes of occupancy, fire, explosion, or other damage, alarm and fire protection systems, flammable liquid and gas installations, and subdivision plans. Subsection (c) makes the fire marshal of any political subdivision whose office was created by ordinance or resolution before January 1, 1959 an Assistant State Fire Marshal with exclusive jurisdiction inside its limits. Regulation 702 requires every new building to meet the State Fire Prevention Regulations, including the codes in Regulation 701, and every applicable section of any building code in effect in Delaware or its political subdivisions, and Regulation 701 deletes NFPA 1’s building code reference and requires every new building to comply with NFPA 1 and NFPA 101; where a county, city, or local rule is more stringent and not inconsistent, the local rule governs. Plumbing: 16 Del. C. § 7903 has the Division of Public Health adopt and enforce the International Plumbing Code, and § 7904 requires every county, city, and municipal government to enforce it as the Division adopts or modifies it, with local additions submitted to the Division for approval. Electrical: 24 Del. C. § 1420 requires a certificate of inspection from a Board-licensed inspection agency for all electrical work not specifically exempt, and the Board of Electrical Examiners’ rules require work to the NEC as adopted by the State Fire Prevention Commission and any local building code, with the Commission setting the edition for each project. Energy: 16 Del. C. § 7602 requires county and municipal building and plumbing codes to meet the IECC and ASHRAE/IES standard the Delaware Energy Office adopts within 12 months, lets local governments adopt stretch codes that do not replace the state code in its entirety, and lets a local government accept COMcheck or a compliance guide instead of a licensed engineer’s or architect’s certification for a commercial building under 5,000 square feet. Other statutes add specific items: § 7605 requires a solar-ready zone on new commercial buildings with a foundation footprint of 50,000 square feet or more and § 7606 on new school and state buildings of at least 50,000 square feet; 16 Del. C. § 8803 requires student dormitories at schools and colleges to be equipped throughout with automatic fire suppression; 29 Del. C. Chapter 73 applies the Architectural Accessibility Board’s standards to facilities built by or on behalf of, leased by, or financed by the State; and the Division of Communications’ In-Building Communications Systems Regulation applies to all newly constructed buildings of 25,000 square feet or more.
The fire layer changed on January 1, 2026. The State Fire Prevention Commission’s final order, signed July 16, 2025, revised Regulation 701 effective January 1, 2026 and moved much of its content into other regulations; the plan submittal rules now sit in Regulation 701A. Regulation 701 now adopts, among others, NFPA 1 and NFPA 101 (2024); NFPA 13, 13D, and 13R (2025); NFPA 14 (2024); NFPA 20 and 24 (2025); NFPA 25 (2023); NFPA 30, 30A, 54, and 58 (2024); NFPA 70 (2023); NFPA 72 and 80 (2025); NFPA 92, 96, 99, and 220 (2024); NFPA 110 (2025); and NFPA 855 (2023), and adds NFPA 2 (2023), NFPA 70E (2024), and NFPA 130 (2023). Its Delaware amendments include corridor smoke detection in all apartment buildings and in lodging or rooming houses, a prohibition on unvented fuel-fired heating equipment in bathrooms and sleeping areas, the rule that the State Fire Marshal does not use NFPA 101 Chapter 24 for one- and two-family dwellings in plan review except where other chapters reference it, and plan submittals for LP-gas installations of 1,000 gallons or more aggregate water capacity at consumer sites, cylinder exchanges, and retail dispensing. The State Fire Marshal’s December 16, 2025 letter says all projects submitted on or after December 31, 2025 must comply with the 2026 edition, one day before the regulation’s effective date, so a set submitted on December 31, 2025 needs the office’s answer. Regulation 702, last amended in 2021, still cites Chapters 2, 4, and 5 of Regulation 701, which the 2026 edition no longer divides into chapters; ask the State Fire Marshal how those references read now.
Energy moved to the 2024 IECC. Under 7 DE Admin. Code 2101, as amended by Secretary’s Order No. 2026-CCE-0002 (issued March 10, 2026, effective April 11, 2026), the residential provisions of the 2024 IECC with an amended Appendix RE (electric vehicle charging) are the Delaware Residential Building Energy Conservation Code, and the commercial provisions with an amended Appendix CB (solar-ready zone) are the commercial code, with compliance by the 2024 IECC prescriptive path, simulated building performance, or ANSI/ASHRAE/IES 90.1-2022. It replaced the 2018 IECC and ASHRAE 90.1-2016 adopted in June 2020. Section 4.1 gives county and municipal codes 12 months after promulgation to meet it, and section 4.2 lets any project use it earlier if the construction documents say so. Appendix RE requires one EV ready or EVSE space per new one- or two-family dwelling or townhouse with on-site parking and EV ready or EVSE spaces for 20 percent of the dwelling units or parking spaces, whichever is less, for Group R-2, with the locations shown on the construction documents. Appendix CB and § 7605 require the construction documents for buildings of five stories or less to show a solar-ready zone of at least 40 percent of the net roof area, in sub-zones at least 5 feet wide, the conduit pathways to the service panel or water heater, and the roof dead and live loads, with a collateral dead load of at least 5 psf in the design and a reserved breaker space labeled “For Future Solar Electric.” The Secretary’s order describes the solar-ready requirement as covering new commercial and high-rise residential construction, while § 7605 limits it to commercial buildings with a foundation footprint of 50,000 square feet or more. DNREC’s building energy codes page says the April 2026 update adopts the codes “with zero net energy capable amendments,” the Secretary’s order says the zero net energy capable provisions are not appropriate at this time and were not implemented, and § 7602(c) says all new residential construction is to be zero net energy capable as of December 31, 2025; confirm with the State Energy Office what applies to a residential set.
Plumbing and electrical editions are set statewide. 16 DE Admin. Code 4455, last amended in 2022, adopts the 2021 International Plumbing Code with Delaware amendments as the “2021 State of Delaware Plumbing Code,” and the Division of Public Health’s plumbing program page names the same edition; § 7903 directs the Division to adopt the most recent IPC within one calendar year of its issuance, and the regulation’s own amendment to IPC Section 101.1 still inserts “The 2018 Delaware Plumbing Code,” so confirm the plumbing edition before you correct a title block. The electrical edition is the 2023 NEC that Regulation 701 adopts. The building code edition is local: Sussex County’s building code history says it began enforcing the 2021 IBC and IRC on January 1, 2023 and the 2018 IECC on December 10, 2020, and New Castle County, Kent County, and municipalities with their own building departments, such as Newark, set their own editions and amendments, so take the edition from the building department’s adoption for the permit date. All checked November 8, 2026.
The building code review goes to the county or city. Sussex County’s Building Code Office enforces the codes adopted under Chapter 52 of the county code in all unincorporated areas and does plan review and inspections for 14 incorporated towns (Bethel, Blades, Bridgeville, Dagsboro, Dewey Beach, Ellendale, Fenwick Island, Frankford, Georgetown, Greenwood, Henlopen Acres, Ocean View, Slaughter Beach, and South Bethany), which then need a county certificate of occupancy. Its commercial plan requirements ask for two sets with an original seal and signature of a Delaware architect or engineer, a site plan approved by Sussex County Planning and Zoning or the town, the occupancy classification, exit doors, exit signs and emergency lighting, UL or other tested design numbers on every rated assembly, separately sealed shop drawings for pre-engineered buildings, sealed energy compliance forms, a third set for the county’s engineering office in the sewer district, and the State Fire Marshal’s approval before the county issues a commercial permit. The City of Newark’s Code Enforcement Division enforces construction, fire prevention, maintenance, and rental codes through its permits and inspections. Ask New Castle County, Kent County, or the city which edition and local amendments apply on your permit date.
Fire and life safety plans go to the Office of the State Fire Marshal, which works from its Dover headquarters and regional offices in Georgetown and Wilmington. Regulation 701A requires building plans for all new buildings and additions, changes of occupancy, damaged buildings, attached dwelling units of three or more (to verify the separation wall), and alterations, renovations, and remodels, and separate submittals for fire alarm systems, suppression systems, standpipes, fire pumps, firefighting water supplies, Type I kitchen hoods and ducts, emergency and exit lighting, egress systems including elevators and escalators, access control, subdivision entrance gates, pool fence and gate hardware, smoke control, fire lanes, and flammable liquid and gas installations; one- and two-family dwellings, agricultural buildings, and routine maintenance are excluded. Every page needs the design professional’s seal and signature and the plan date, fire protection system plans need the company name, Delaware license number, certificate holder’s name, certificate number, and signature on each page, and fire protection documents must be separate from the electrical, mechanical, and plumbing documents. Site plans list the water supplier, hydrants, fire protection main sizes, building height, construction, sprinkler status, and fire lane locations and widths, with the plan note that all fire lanes, fire hydrants, and fire department connections shall be marked in accordance with the State Fire Prevention Regulations, and a water flow test taken within 12 months from the hydrant closest to the connection when sprinklers or hydrants are proposed. Building plans show full-height sections with shafts and vertical openings, sprinklered areas, HVAC details, every means of egress component with clear width, rating, swing, and locking, NFPA 101 hazardous areas, assembly seating layouts, exit sign and emergency lighting locations, alarm equipment make, type, and location, and a narrative of how penetrations of rated assemblies are sealed. The building plan submittal page adds that a site plan approval is required before any new, addition, or shell building is approved, that a preliminary sprinkler form goes with sprinklered building plans, and that an electric fire pump needs approval from a licensed electrical inspection agency; the fee is 0.7 percent of construction cost up to $1 million plus 0.3 percent above it, with a $150 minimum, and § 6612(l) waives plan review fees for projects more than 50 percent state-funded, for housing built by 501(c)(3) organizations, and for municipalities, towns, and fire companies improving their own stations. Approvals other than site plans lapse after two years without construction, and for complex occupancies the office may require a fire protection engineering analysis sealed by a Delaware engineer who passed the fire protection engineering PE exam. At final inspection the submitter provides a PDF site plan and floor footprints showing sprinkler control valves, fire department connections, alarm panels, hydrants, main entrances, and emergency contacts.
Regulation 702 sets Delaware’s own sprinkler and height rules. It requires an NFPA 13 system in every building exceeding 10,000 square feet of aggregate gross floor area (exceptions cover one- and two-family dwellings, one-story buildings subdivided by a Class B fire barrier where no water system is available, certain one-story noncombustible buildings with a low occupant load and a noncombustible fuel load, and noncombustible open parking structures), in buildings over 40 feet or more than four stories, in buildings storing or selling combustible goods above two stories or 25 feet, in basements over 2,500 square feet, and in residential buildings of NFPA 220 Type V (000) or Type III (200) construction above two stories or 25 feet and of Type V (111), Type III (211), or Type IV (2HH) above three stories or 35 feet, with exceptions for single-family detached dwellings and attached one- and two-family dwellings separated by two-hour construction. Additions that bring the aggregate area over 10,000 square feet trigger the same chapter. Regulation 701 defines a mid-rise building as a health care, ambulatory health care, detention, or residential building of more than four stories or 50 feet up to seven stories or 75 feet, a high-rise as more than seven stories or 75 feet, and a large area building as more than 100,000 square feet on any one floor; mid-rise and high-rise buildings need a fire command center in a location the responsible fire chief reviews and the State Fire Marshal approves, with alarm, smoke management, and standby power provisions. The in-building communications rule requires public safety radio coverage in new buildings of 25,000 square feet or more, with monitoring, at least two hours of battery or generator backup, and acceptance test results sent to the Division of Communications.
Plumbing, electrical, accessibility, and public buildings have their own reviewers. The Division of Public Health’s plumbing program permits and inspects plumbing statewide except where a local plumbing program exists, with permit offices in Kent and Sussex counties, and commercial work needs plans with the occupancy type and occupant load for the fixture count, a plan review application to the Office of Engineering in Dover, and the Approval to Construct attached to the commercial plumbing permit application. Electrical work is inspected by an agency the Board of Electrical Examiners licenses and the State Fire Marshal recognizes. For a facility the State builds, leases, or finances in whole or part, 29 Del. C. § 7308 bars construction until the Architectural Accessibility Board issues a letter of approval on plans filed by the design architect or engineer, and bid solicitations must state that conformity is required; a submission filed at least 10 days before a Board meeting is acted on by the following meeting or within 60 days, whichever comes first. Its standards use the ICC/ANSI A117.1-2003 technical requirements with Delaware amendments (among them handrail gripping surfaces, accessible parking signs and distance from the entrance, toilet stall layouts, white strobes in accessible toilet rooms where alarms are installed, and two-way communication at areas of rescue assistance when a new fire alarm system is installed), require adaptable apartment units under the most recent A117.1 edition, and state that ADA requirements cannot be waived. The plumbing code sends accessible plumbing to the most recent ANSI edition and the IBC minimum, and the local building code may cite a newer A117.1, so record which accessibility standard each sheet follows. 29 Del. C. § 6962 requires large public works contracts to conform to the Board’s standards. For bond-funded school construction, 29 Del. C. § 7518 requires the Department of Education to approve the final plans, specifications, and cost estimates, and the State Fire Marshal inspects schools and state- and county-owned institutions under § 6612(j). As-built drawings and specifications for government buildings, including buildings on state land, county and municipal buildings, and buildings funded in part by state money, go to the State Fire Marshal or the Bureau of Archives and Records Management within six months of the final fire inspection. Which office checks the building code on a state-owned building was not found in the sources read; confirm it with the owning agency and the Office of Management and Budget’s Division of Facilities Management. Permit routing is on the Delaware page, and the model codes have their own guides: IBC, IRC, NFPA 1, NFPA 101, IECC, IPC, and NFPA 70.
Gather the code analysis, the reviewing offices, and each discipline’s Delaware references
Collect the cover sheet and code analysis with every code and edition cited, including both the local building code and NFPA 101, the occupancy classification, construction type in both IBC and NFPA 220 terms, building height in feet and stories, and aggregate gross floor area; the site plan with the water supplier, hydrants, fire main sizes, fire lanes and widths, and the fire lane marking note; the water flow test; floor plans, full-height sections, elevations, and door hardware schedules; the life safety plan with egress widths, rated assemblies and their listing numbers, hazardous areas, and the penetration sealing narrative; the sprinkler, standpipe, fire pump, and fire alarm drawings with the preliminary sprinkler form and the contractor’s Delaware license and certificate numbers; the mechanical drawings with Type I hood and duct details; the plumbing fixture count with the occupant load; the electrical drawings with exit signs, emergency lighting, and the reserved solar breaker space; the energy compliance report and the solar-ready zone and EV charging layouts; the accessibility plans, parking layout, and toilet room plans; and the specifications.
Add the parcel and tax number, the county and municipality, whether the site is in a political subdivision with its own fire marshal, who owns and funds the building (the State, a school district, another public body, or a private owner) and whether state money exceeds half the cost, the date of the first submittal to each office, the construction cost, and any health care, day care, dormitory, or LP-gas use. Read the statutes on Delaware Code Online, the regulations in the Delaware Administrative Code, the fire submittal rules on the State Fire Marshal’s plan review page and its regulations page, the energy code on DNREC’s building energy codes page, and the local adoption on the county or city site.
Trace the Delaware codes and reviewers through the set
| Review question | Sources to compare | Decision to record |
|---|---|---|
| Who reviews | Parcel, county and town, fire marshal jurisdiction, owner and funding source | Record the county or city building department, the State Fire Marshal or a local fire marshal with exclusive jurisdiction, the Division of Public Health or local plumbing office, the electrical inspection agency, and the Architectural Accessibility Board or Department of Education where state money or a school is involved. |
| Code editions and dates | Cover sheet, code analysis, discipline general notes, the local adoption, first submittal date | Confirm the local IBC or IRC edition, NFPA 1 and NFPA 101 (2024) with the 2025 NFPA 13 and 72 for sets submitted from the turn of 2026, the 2021 IPC, and the 2023 NEC, and flag older fire code editions on a 2026 submittal. |
| Delaware sprinkler triggers | Code analysis, aggregate gross floor area, height and stories, basement area, NFPA 220 construction type | Check Regulation 702 against the IBC result: over 10,000 square feet aggregate, over 40 feet or four stories, combustible storage above two stories or 25 feet, basements over 2,500 square feet, and the residential construction-type limits. |
| Mid-rise, high-rise, and large buildings | Building height, occupancy, floor areas, fire command center location, radio coverage notes | Apply Delaware’s mid-rise, high-rise, and large area definitions, locate the fire command center for fire chief review, and show in-building radio coverage with backup power for new buildings of 25,000 square feet or more. |
| Fire submittal package | Site plan notes, water flow test, title blocks, fire protection sheets, building plan details | Check the fire lane marking note, a flow test under 12 months old from the nearest hydrant, seals and dates on every page, license and certificate numbers on fire protection sheets, and separate fire protection documents. |
| Energy, solar, and EV | Energy notes, REScheck or COMcheck, roof plan, electrical panel schedules, parking plan | Confirm the energy edition the local code enforces on the submittal date, any early use of the 2024 IECC stated on the documents, the solar-ready zone and roof loads where it applies, and EV ready or EVSE spaces for new housing. |
| Accessibility and plumbing fixtures | Accessible route, parking, toilet rooms, fixture count, funding source | Record the A117.1 edition each sheet follows, the Architectural Accessibility Board’s amendments for state-funded work, the ADA basis, and a fixture count from the 2021 IPC with the Delaware table amendments and the occupant load. |
Fire and life safety sheets continue in the NFPA 101 guide, the NFPA 1 guide, the means of egress guide, the IBC Chapter 7 guide, and the construction types guide for the IBC side of the NFPA 220 comparison; sprinkler and alarm documents in the NFPA 13, NFPA 13R, NFPA 14, NFPA 20, NFPA 24, and NFPA 72 guides, the fire sprinkler checklist, and the fire alarm drawing checklist; smoke control, kitchen hoods, and emergency power in the NFPA 92, NFPA 96, and NFPA 110 guides; fuel gas in the NFPA 54 and NFPA 58 guides; energy in the IECC and ASHRAE 90.1 guides and roof arrays in the solar PV checklist; fixture counts in the plumbing fixture count guide; and accessible details in the ICC A117.1 and ADA Standards guides and the accessibility checklist. Neighboring state codes are in the Maryland Building Performance Standards guide, the Pennsylvania UCC guide, and the New Jersey UCC guide.
Example: a two-story office building in unincorporated Sussex County
Hypothetical example. A developer plans a two-story professional office building of about 14,000 square feet of aggregate gross floor area in unincorporated Sussex County, first submitted in October 2026. The cover sheet cites the 2021 IBC and the 2018 IECC with a COMcheck to ASHRAE 90.1-2010, the code analysis says no automatic sprinkler system is required for a Group B building of this size and construction type, NFPA 101 is not cited, and the site plan shows the fire lanes without the marking note.
Regulation 702 requires new buildings to meet the State Fire Prevention Regulations as well as the county building code, and it requires an NFPA 13 sprinkler system in every building exceeding 10,000 square feet of aggregate gross floor area; its exceptions cover one- and two-family dwellings, certain one-story buildings, and noncombustible open parking structures, none of which describes a two-story office, so the IBC result alone does not settle the sprinkler question. Regulation 701 requires every new building to comply with NFPA 1 and NFPA 101, and Regulation 701A requires the fire lane, hydrant, and fire department connection marking note on the site plan and a water flow test when sprinklers are proposed. Sussex County requires the State Fire Marshal’s approval before it issues a commercial permit, and its August 20, 2026 notice says plans submitted after April 10, 2026 must be designed to the 2024 IECC with a compliance report, while its commercial plan sheet still names ASHRAE 90.1-2010 and the 2018 IECC. Confirm the sprinkler and life safety basis with the State Fire Marshal and the energy edition with the Sussex County Building Code Office.
The fire protection engineer adds an NFPA 13 system with the preliminary sprinkler form and a current flow test, the architect adds an NFPA 101 analysis and the marking note and asks the county which energy edition governs the October submittal, and the set goes to the State Fire Marshal before the county permit. The finding is a code-basis and citation conflict; the State Fire Marshal and the Sussex County Building Code Office decide compliance.
Review a Delaware set with Groundbook
Upload the current drawings and specifications to Groundbook, and state the edition, amendments, and review scope in your instructions. Delaware’s statutes are free on Delaware Code Online and its regulations in the Delaware Administrative Code, the State Fire Marshal posts its submittal rules and 2026 update, DNREC posts its energy code notices, the Division of Public Health posts the plumbing amendments, and counties such as Sussex post their adoptions and plan requirements. Upload the Delaware Code sections and Regulations 701, 701A, and 702, 7 DE Admin. Code 2101, 16 DE Admin. Code 4455, the Architectural Accessibility Standards where state money is involved, and the county or city adoption and checklists as code files, with the local IBC or IRC edition, NFPA 1, NFPA 101, NFPA 13, NFPA 72, and the other NFPA standards the project relies on, the 2023 NEC, the 2021 IPC, the 2024 IECC or ASHRAE 90.1-2022, and ICC A117.1 from copies you are licensed to use where the license permits uploading them. See how Groundbook works with local and licensed codes.
Compare the cover sheet, code analysis, site plan, life safety plan, and every discipline’s general notes with the architectural, structural, fire protection, mechanical, plumbing, electrical, energy, and accessibility documents. Flag a building or fire reviewer that does not fit the county, municipality, fire marshal jurisdiction, owner, and funding source in my instructions, code editions other than the ones my instructions give for each office, a code analysis that cites the building code without NFPA 101, a building over 10,000 square feet of aggregate gross floor area or over 40 feet or four stories without a sprinkler system, a missing fire lane marking note or water flow test, fire protection sheets without license and certificate numbers, energy documents on an edition the local code no longer accepts, a missing solar-ready zone or EV ready spaces where the supplied regulations require them, and accessibility references that do not match the supplied Delaware standards. Use the supplied statutes, regulations, local codes, and model codes and cite both sources.
Groundbook compares the set with reference documents you upload, including licensed codes and standards you hold, and links each potential finding to the note or sheet and to the Delaware statute, regulation, county or city code, checklist, or model code. It has no built-in library of licensed codes, runs no calculations, and does not design anything. It does not decide whether a county, a city, the State Fire Marshal, a local fire marshal, the Division of Public Health, or the Architectural Accessibility Board has jurisdiction, which edition governs where a regulation, an agency page, and a county notice differ, or whether a local amendment applies; each finding is a question for the responsible design professional.
Document review does not certify compliance, issue a permit, plan approval, letter of approval, or certificate of occupancy, or replace the design professional, the county or municipal building official, the State Fire Marshal, a local fire marshal, the Division of Public Health, an electrical inspection agency, the Architectural Accessibility Board, the Department of Education, or the State Energy Office.