Check that the code analysis cites each Georgia State Minimum Standard Code with its Georgia amendments: DCA lists the 2024 IBC, IRC, IPC, IMC, IFGC, and ISPSC and the 2023 NEC as current, with amendment packets marked effective January 1, 2026, and the 2015 IECC with Georgia supplements for energy. Then confirm the Life Safety Code is used where Georgia’s Codes Reference Guide makes it primary, and that the State Fire Marshal’s rules govern fire safety and accessibility. AI can flag conflicts; the design professional, the building official, and the fire official decide compliance.
What do the Georgia State Minimum Standard Codes cover?
Under the Uniform Codes Act (O.C.G.A. Title 8, Chapter 2), DCA’s mandatory and permissive codes page says the building, one- and two-family dwelling, fire, plumbing, mechanical, fuel gas, electrical, energy, and swimming pool codes are mandatory: they apply to all construction in Georgia whether or not the local government enforces them, and a local government chooses which ones it enforces. The International Property Maintenance Code, the International Existing Building Code, the National Green Building Standard, and the Disaster Resilient Building Code appendices are permissive and apply only where a local government adopts them by ordinance or resolution filed with DCA. Each code is a base model code plus a set of Georgia amendments. The Georgia amendments to the 2024 IBC delete IBC Chapter 1 administration (left as a guide for local procedures) and Chapter 11 accessibility, cross-referencing accessibility to O.C.G.A. Title 30, Chapter 3 and the Safety Fire Commissioner’s rules. They send detached one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses within the scope the amendment describes to the IRC, add a Chapter 34 for existing buildings that lets the building official accept IEBC work, and make appendices unenforceable unless referenced or adopted.
DCA’s current codes table lists the 2024 IBC, IRC, IPC, IMC, IFGC, and ISPSC with Georgia amendments, the 2024 IFC (referred to the State Fire Marshal), the 2023 NEC with Georgia amendments, and the 2015 IECC with Georgia supplements and amendments revised in 2020, 2022, and 2023. DCA’s September 1, 2025 memo says the 2024 IRC, IBC, IMC, IFGC, IPC, and ISPSC and the 2026 Georgia amendments to the 2023 NEC become effective January 1, 2026, and the amendment packets mark each change effective that date. DCA’s December 9, 2025 announcement of the same Board action gives January 1, 2027 instead, so confirm the effective date for the permit with the building official. The 2015 energy supplement lets COMcheck users select the 2015 IECC or ASHRAE 90.1-2013. All checked October 28, 2026.
More changes are pending. DCA’s notice of intention proposes further Georgia amendments to the 2024 IBC and the 2024 IEBC and IPMC as permissive codes, for the Board’s November 19, 2026 meeting, effective January 1, 2027 if adopted. The SCAC page lists 2024 IECC and permissive codes task forces. Until DCA posts an adopted change, cite the codes in the current table, and treat the 2018 IEBC and IPMC as the permissive editions it lists.
Fire and life safety follow a separate path. The Georgia IBC amendments include a Codes Reference Guide, applied by the authority having jurisdiction, that makes the Life Safety Code (NFPA 101) primary for occupancy classification, means of egress, interior finish, vertical openings, and sprinkler and fire alarm systems, and the IBC primary for construction type, allowable height and area, and standpipes. The Safety Fire Commissioner’s rules include Chapter 120-3-3, the State Minimum Fire Safety Standards, and Chapter 120-3-20 on access to public facilities. The Commissioner’s plan review page says the office enforces those rules for hotels, apartment buildings, schools, day care centers, personal care homes, churches, hospitals, nursing homes, mercantile occupancies, buildings four or more stories in height, and race tracks, with plans submitted through its portal. We could not open the rule text on the Secretary of State’s site, so confirm the NFPA 101 and IFC editions Chapter 120-3-3 adopts with the State Fire Marshal’s office. Under DCA’s enforcement page, local governments must adopt administrative procedures, must enforce the latest editions and DCA amendments for any code they enforce, and must send proposed local amendments to DCA for review. Permit routing is on the Georgia page, and the model codes have their own guides: IBC, IRC, IFC, NFPA 101, and IECC.
Gather the code analysis, the life safety plans, and each discipline’s Georgia references
Collect the cover sheet and code analysis with each Georgia code and edition cited, the life safety plans with occupancy, egress, and fire protection data, the architectural plans, sections, and wall and door schedules, the accessibility plans and details, the structural general notes with design criteria, the mechanical, plumbing, fuel gas, and electrical drawings, the fire sprinkler and fire alarm drawings, the energy compliance documentation (REScheck or COMcheck with the version the Georgia supplement names), and the specifications.
Add the permit application date, whether the local government enforces each mandatory code or the State Fire Marshal reviews the occupancy, any local amendment or permissive-code ordinance on file with DCA, and, for existing buildings, whether the team relies on the IBC Georgia Chapter 34 or a locally adopted IEBC.
Trace the Georgia codes and the Codes Reference Guide through the set
| Review question | Sources to compare | Decision to record |
|---|---|---|
| Edition for each code | Cover sheet, code analysis, general notes for every discipline, DCA current codes table | Confirm each discipline cites the Georgia code DCA lists with its Georgia amendments, and record the effective date the building official applies. |
| Life Safety Code or IBC | Code analysis, life safety plans, egress and finish notes, Codes Reference Guide | Check that occupancy, egress, interior finish, vertical openings, sprinklers, and fire alarm cite the Life Safety Code where the guide makes it primary. |
| Fire Marshal scope | Cover sheet, occupancy data, OCI plan review list, rule 120-3-3 | Record whether the State Fire Marshal’s office reviews this occupancy and which NFPA 101 and IFC editions its rules adopt. |
| Accessibility basis | Accessibility plans and details, code analysis, rule 120-3-20 | Find accessibility cited to IBC Chapter 11, which Georgia deletes, and ask for the Georgia accessibility basis the Fire Marshal’s rules set. |
| Energy code | Energy documentation, envelope details, mechanical and lighting schedules | Match the energy path to the 2015 IECC with Georgia supplements, not a newer IECC, and the software version to the one the supplement names. |
| Existing building path | Scope of work, code analysis, local ordinance | Confirm whether alterations follow the Georgia IBC Chapter 34, an IEBC the local government adopted, or IEBC work the building official approved. |
Egress and fire protection continue in the IBC Chapter 9 guide, the NFPA 13 guide, and the NFPA 72 guide. Fuel gas and LP-gas notes continue in the IFGC, NFPA 54, and NFPA 58 guides, electrical sheets in the NFPA 70 guide, and accessible elements in the accessibility checklist. A neighboring state’s code is in the Florida Building Code guide.
Example: a hotel set drawn to the IBC alone
Hypothetical example. A four-story hotel near Savannah is designed in 2026 by a team that usually works under the IBC alone. The code analysis cites the 2018 IBC with Georgia amendments, the egress plans and finish schedule cite IBC Chapter 10 and Chapter 8 only, the accessibility sheets cite IBC Chapter 11 and ICC A117.1, the energy forms use the 2021 IECC, and the cover sheet does not say the State Fire Marshal’s office will review the plans.
The code analysis cites the 2018 IBC, while DCA lists the 2024 IBC with Georgia amendments as current. Egress and interior finish cite only the IBC, while Georgia’s Codes Reference Guide makes the Life Safety Code primary for those items. Accessibility cites IBC Chapter 11, which the Georgia amendments delete, and the energy forms use the 2021 IECC instead of the 2015 IECC with Georgia supplements. Confirm the code basis, the life safety reviewer, and the accessibility basis, and coordinate the code analysis, life safety plans, accessibility sheets, and energy forms.
The architect confirms the code basis with the building official and the State Fire Marshal’s office, revises the code analysis and life safety plans, and updates the accessibility and energy references. The finding is a citation conflict; the building official and the fire official decide compliance.
Review a Georgia set with Groundbook
Upload the current drawings and specifications to Groundbook, and state the edition, amendments, and review scope in your instructions. DCA publishes the Georgia amendments and supplements as free PDFs on its current codes page. Upload the amendment packets you need as code files, with the 2024 model codes, the 2015 IECC, the 2023 NEC, and the edition of NFPA 101 the Fire Marshal’s rules adopt, using copies you are licensed to use where the license permits uploading them, and any local amendment on file with DCA. See how Groundbook works with local and licensed codes.
Compare the cover sheet, code analysis, and every discipline’s general notes with the life safety, architectural, accessibility, structural, mechanical, plumbing, fuel gas, electrical, fire protection, and energy documents. Flag code editions other than those on DCA’s current codes table, egress, finish, vertical opening, sprinkler, or fire alarm items cited only to the IBC where the Georgia Codes Reference Guide makes the Life Safety Code primary, accessibility cited to IBC Chapter 11, energy documents not on the 2015 IECC with Georgia supplements, and a missing fire plan reviewer. Use the supplied Georgia amendments and codes and cite both sources.
Groundbook links each potential finding to the note or sheet and to the Georgia amendment or code you uploaded. It compares what the documents state; it does not decide which edition, reviewer, or primary code applies.
Document review does not certify compliance, approve a permit, or replace the design professional, the building official, the State Fire Marshal’s office, or DCA.