Nebraska state building code plan review: the 2018 codes in §71-6403, local adoption, the 2018 IECC, and the State Fire Marshal’s NFPA 101 review

Which Nebraska codes apply to a set of drawings?

Neb. Rev. Stat. §71-6403 creates the state building code and adopts by reference the 2018 IBC except Section 101.4.3 and Chapter 29, with Section 305.2.3 applied to a facility having twelve or fewer children and Section 310.4.1 to a care facility for twelve or fewer persons, the 2018 IRC except Section R313 and Chapters 25 through 33, the 2018 IEBC except Section 809, and the 2018 Uniform Plumbing Code; with the radon resistant new construction standards of §76-3504, those make up the state code. Under §71-6404 and §71-6405 it is the legally applicable code for every building owned by the state or a state agency, including the University of Nebraska and the state colleges, whether or not anyone administers it, and it does not reach manufactured homes, recreational vehicles, or modular housing units regulated under their own acts. Everywhere else, §71-6406 lets a county, city, or village enact and enforce a local building code only if it adopts the state code or a code that conforms generally with it, and there is no population threshold: if a jurisdiction has not adopted such a code within two years after an update to the state code, the state code applies there, except to construction on a farm or for farm purposes, and it is the legally applicable code even where no one administers it. A local code conforms generally if its amendments reduce unnecessary cost, increase safety, durability, or efficiency, set best practices, or address local conditions, or if it adopts a newer edition, an appendix, IBC Sections 305 or 310 without the state exceptions, any of the excluded IBC, IRC, or IEBC sections, its own plumbing, electrical, or fire code, a local energy code, or radon standards that meet the state minimum. It does not conform if it includes a prior edition of any part of the state code or lacks the radon standards. A jurisdiction must notify the Department of Water, Energy, and Environment within 30 days if it deletes any part of IBC Chapter 13 or IRC Chapter 11, must update its code within two years after the state code changes, and builds its own public buildings to the applicable local code. Section 71-6408 bars any provision of the state code from prohibiting a refrigerant designated acceptable under 42 U.S.C. 7671k, as that section existed on January 1, 2023, where the equipment is listed and installed under the designation’s safety standards and use conditions.

The editions are fixed in the statute, not in a rule, and the current text of §71-6403 still adopts the 2018 editions, so do not cite a 2021 or 2024 IBC, IRC, or IEBC as the state code; a local jurisdiction may adopt a newer edition as a code that conforms generally, so read its ordinance. LB441 (2026), effective July 18, 2026, extended the act to §71-6409, which lets a permitting entity allow virtual inspections of single-family and two-family residential buildings under three stories and 10,000 square feet. The radon standards apply to new construction built after September 1, 2019 that is intended to be regularly occupied: sump pits covered with sealed lids, a passive subslab depressurization system in basement or slab-on-grade buildings with a gas-tight vent pipe of at least three inches that rises through the building and ends at least twelve inches above the roof and at least ten feet from the openings the statute describes, labels reading Radon Reduction System on each floor and in accessible attics, and an electrical circuit for a future fan. Under §76-3505 they are not required for a project that uses the design of a licensed architect or professional engineer, a project in a county whose average radon concentration is below 2.7 picocuries per liter as the Department of Health and Human Services determines, or, other than for dwelling units, where the local building official determines they are not necessary. All checked November 5, 2026.

The energy code is separate. §81-1611 adopts the 2018 IECC as the Nebraska Energy Code, and §81-1614 applies it to new buildings, renovations, and additions on which construction began on or after July 1, 2020; §81-1609 defines a renovation as alterations costing more than half of the building’s replacement cost or a heating or cooling system added to a space that had none, and §81-1615 exempts very low-energy buildings, buildings neither heated nor cooled, federally owned buildings, manufactured and modular homes, and listed, designated, or eligible historic buildings. Under §81-1618 a county, city, or village may adopt and enforce a local energy code that does not result in more energy use than the Nebraska Energy Code, and may waive a requirement that is not economically justified after sending its analysis to the department. The Department of Water, Energy, and Environment’s energy codes page says its Planning and Aid Division enforces the code where a local jurisdiction has not adopted an energy code, and it describes LB 405 as moving the code to the 2018 IECC and ASHRAE 90.1-2016, while the statute names only the 2018 IECC; confirm with the department before treating ASHRAE 90.1-2016 as a separate path. The department has published energy impact studies of the 2021 and 2024 IECC, but neither edition is adopted. For state-funded buildings, §72-805 applies the 2018 IECC to new buildings constructed in whole or in part with state funds after July 1, 2020 and has the department review their plans and specifications, unless a local jurisdiction enforcing a code that includes the 2018 IECC has already reviewed them.

Fire and life safety review is statewide. §81-503.01 has the State Fire Marshal adopt a State Fire Code that conforms generally to NFPA 1 and NFPA 101, 2012 editions, and requires plans for compliance with it to be reviewed by the Fire Marshal, with a late fee where plans arrive after construction has begun. Title 153, Chapter 1 adopts NFPA 1 and NFPA 101 (2012) with Nebraska amendments and the referenced standards in their listed editions, among them NFPA 13, 13D, 13R, 14, 20, and 72 (2010), NFPA 24 (2002), NFPA 80 (2010), NFPA 96 (2011), and NFPA 220 and 221 (2012). Chapter 1 dates the Nebraska amendments November 25, 2019, while the amendment documents on the Fire Marshal’s publications page are dated March 11, 2019, so confirm which version the Plans Division applies. The NFPA 101 amendments require a sidewalk to a public way for new occupancies other than those in Chapters 24, 26, 32, 40, and 42, strike the requirement for sprinklers in new one- and two-family dwellings, define a lodging or rooming house as sleeping more than six but not more than 16 people, add an exception to the assembly sprinkler requirement of Section 12.3.5.2 where two-hour fire barriers keep the occupant load on each side to 300 or fewer with independent egress, and require an automatic sprinkler system throughout occupancies containing areas greater than 100,000 square feet for the storage of combustible materials.

Title 153, Chapter 21, updated September 2, 2025, bars erecting, constructing, enlarging, altering, repairing, improving, or converting any building without first submitting plans to the Fire Marshal, requires each fire protection feature plan (fire alarm, fire sprinkler, fire main, or specifications) to be submitted and reviewed individually, exempts apartment buildings with fewer than three dwelling units, lets the Fire Marshal waive review where it is not needed, and voids an approval if work does not start within 180 days. The Plans Division’s FAQ says all state-owned properties and all commercial construction must be submitted and lists as exempt one- and two-family dwellings, apartment buildings with fewer than three units, agricultural buildings for private use, and projects inside delegated authorities, which is broader than the rule’s own exemption, so confirm a borderline project with the Plans Division. It adds that shop drawings for fire alarm, fire sprinkler, underground fire main, range hood, and fire suppression systems go under separate applications and fees, and that water-based system submittals include the hydraulic calculations and the contractor’s name and certificate number. Under §81-502 the Fire Marshal may delegate this authority to qualified local fire prevention personnel, and the delegated authority page sends plans in Bellevue, Boys Town, Grand Island, Hastings, La Vista, Lincoln, Norfolk, North Platte, Omaha and Elkhorn, Papillion, and Scottsbluff, several with a radius outside city limits, and on the campuses listed as UNL, UNO, and UNK to those offices, while state-owned properties and federally certified (CMS) health care facilities go to the Fire Marshal. The page describes the delegation as nine cities while its table lists more, and it lists the university campuses while sending state-owned properties to the Fire Marshal, so confirm the reviewer with the Plans Division. For state facilities, §81-1108.15 also gives the State Building Division of the Department of Administrative Services the duty to prepare or review planning and construction documents.

Accessibility review rides with the fire code review. §81-5,147 has the Fire Marshal adopt standards consistent with the most current ADA standards for new construction and for alterations of buildings used by the public, and with the Fair Housing Act for new covered multifamily dwellings, and §81-505.01 adds an accessibility review fee of half the plan review fee. Title 156, Chapter 6 makes a political subdivision’s building officials responsible where they review plans for building code compliance and the Fire Marshal responsible where only a fire code review takes place; the Fire Marshal’s list of local authorities names the cities and counties that do the review, while state-owned properties and CMS-certified health care facilities stay with the Fire Marshal and religious entities are exempt. Title 156, Chapter 4 adopts Appendix A to 28 CFR Part 36 by reference and Chapter 5 applies the rules to plans submitted on or after October 1, 1994, while the Fire Marshal’s accessibility page posts the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design as the Nebraska Accessibility Guidelines; confirm with the Plans Division which document it reviews against. The electrical code is set by §81-2104: the State Electrical Board follows the 2023 NEC, except that the 2017 edition applies for Sections 210.8(A), 210.8(A)(3), 210.8(A)(5), 230.67(A), and 230.85, while the Fire Marshal’s Chapter 1 still lists NFPA 70 (2011); confirm the electrical basis with the State Electrical Division. Permit routing is on the Nebraska page, and the model codes have their own guides: IBC, IRC, IEBC, UPC, IECC, and NFPA 101.

Gather the code analysis, the local ordinance, and the review route

Collect the cover sheet and code analysis with every code and edition cited, the IBC and NFPA 101 occupancy classifications with any day care or care facility counts, the life safety plan with egress, occupant loads, rated assemblies, and sprinkler and alarm coverage, the site plan with the sidewalk to the public way, fire apparatus access, and hydrants, floor plans, elevations, sections, and wall types, structural general notes, the plumbing drawings and fixture counts, the mechanical drawings with the refrigerants used, the electrical drawings, the energy compliance documents, the foundation, slab, and roof details of the radon system, the accessibility plans and details, and the specifications.

Add the county, city, or village and whether it has adopted the state code, a conforming local code, or none, its amendments, whether the site is a farm, the owner, including state ownership or state funding, whether the facility is CMS-certified health care, whether a licensed architect or engineer designed the project and the county’s radon determination, the construction valuation for the Fire Marshal’s fee, and the separate fire alarm, sprinkler, fire main, hood, and suppression submittals. Download the Fire Marshal’s rules from its regulations page and read the statutes on the Nebraska Legislature’s site.

Trace the Nebraska codes through the set

Life safety sheets continue in the NFPA 101 guide, the NFPA 1 guide, and the means of egress guide, sprinkler and fire main documents in the NFPA 13, NFPA 13R, and NFPA 24 guides and the fire sprinkler checklist, alarm documents in the NFPA 72 guide, plumbing in the UPC guide, energy in the IECC and ASHRAE 90.1 guides, refrigerants in the ASHRAE 15 guide, electrical notes in the NFPA 70 guide, existing buildings in the IEBC guide, accessible details in the 2010 ADA Standards and Fair Housing Act guides and the accessibility checklist, and the full set in the architectural drawing checklist. Other Midwest state codes are in the Iowa guide, the North Dakota guide, and the Minnesota guide.

Example: a warehouse in a village without a building code

Hypothetical example. A developer plans a new single-story warehouse for packaged consumer goods in a Nebraska village that has never adopted a building code, with the drawings adapted from a project in another state. The code analysis cites the 2021 IBC and the 2021 IECC, the plumbing sheets cite the International Plumbing Code, the life safety plan shows one open storage area of about 150,000 square feet with no sprinkler system, and the cover sheet lists no State Fire Marshal submittal because the village issues no building permits.

The village has not adopted a local building code, so under §71-6406(1)(b) the state building code applies: the 2018 IBC and the 2018 Uniform Plumbing Code, not the 2021 IBC and the International Plumbing Code, with the 2018 IECC as the Nebraska Energy Code under §81-1611. The Nebraska amendments to NFPA 101 (2012) in the State Fire Code require an automatic sprinkler system throughout occupancies containing areas greater than 100,000 square feet for the storage of combustible materials, and Title 153, Chapter 21 requires the plans to be submitted to the State Fire Marshal before construction, with the sprinkler, fire alarm, and fire main shop drawings submitted separately. Confirm the code editions, the plumbing basis, the sprinkler requirement, and the review route, and ask the Department of Water, Energy, and Environment how the energy code will be enforced where the village has no energy code.

The architect revises the code analysis to the 2018 state codes, the plumbing engineer moves the fixture count and riser diagrams to the 2018 Uniform Plumbing Code, the fire protection engineer designs the sprinkler system and its water supply, and the team submits the building plans to the State Fire Marshal’s Plans Division, with the shop drawings to follow under separate applications. The finding is a citation and routing conflict; the State Fire Marshal and the authorities that enforce the building and energy codes decide compliance.

Review a Nebraska set with Groundbook

Upload the current drawings and specifications to Groundbook, and state the edition, amendments, and review scope in your instructions. The statutes are free on the Nebraska Legislature’s site, and the State Fire Marshal posts Title 153, Title 156, its Nebraska amendments to NFPA 1 and NFPA 101, and its adopted code list. Upload those and any local ordinance as code files, with the 2018 IBC, IRC, IEBC, and IECC, the 2018 Uniform Plumbing Code, NFPA 1 and NFPA 101 (2012), and the referenced NFPA standards 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, life safety plan, and every discipline’s general notes with the architectural, accessibility, structural, plumbing, mechanical, electrical, fire protection, and energy documents. Flag IBC, IRC, or IEBC editions other than 2018 unless the local ordinance in my instructions adopts another, plumbing notes not on the 2018 Uniform Plumbing Code or the local plumbing code, IECC editions other than 2018, NFPA 101 or NFPA 1 editions other than 2012, missing radon resistant construction details where no exception in the supplied statute applies, combustible storage areas over 100,000 square feet without sprinklers, and a review route that does not fit the owner and the delegated authority list. Use the supplied Nebraska statutes, rules, 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 Nebraska statute, rule, 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 local code conforms generally with the state code, which agency enforces the energy code, or whether a radon exception applies; each finding is a question for the responsible design professional.

Document review does not certify compliance, issue a permit or plan approval, or replace the design professional, the local building official, the State Fire Marshal’s Plans Division or a delegated authority, the Department of Water, Energy, and Environment, or the State Electrical Division.