At Monday’s Knoxville City Council meeting, the council approved the adoption of the latest building codes from the International Code Council. This means that the city of Knoxville has adopted the latest standards in regards to what must be included in new buildings built on city property, such as carbon monoxide detection and fire sprinkler requirements. This applies to both commercial and residential structures. City Manager Aaron Adams says that this will make sure the city will be compliant with the latest standards in building development.

“This covers the gamut of all things building, whether it’s residential, commercial, electric, plumbing, mechanical, and everything in between. For us as a city, it helps us to have that as a minimum standard. There are things we can amend to be more strict than the ICC codes, or less strict. Oftentimes, we try to make things a little easier for development, especially on the residential side by opting out of some of the fire sprinkler requirements for residential properties. For the average person in Knoxville, they won’t notice a big change, but for us, it just helps us stay in good practice and to set that standard.”

To view the specific details regarding this change to city code, click here.