§ 145.42. Alternate standards.
(a) As an alternative to the primary codes specified in § 145.41 (relating to adoption of standards), a manufacturer may elect to satisfy the requirements of the following alternate standards. Copies of these documents are available through the respective promulgating agencies as defined in § 145.47 (relating to acquisition of adopted codes and amendments):
(1) As an alternate to the ICC International Residential Code, Chapter 11, regarding energy efficiency, the manufacturer may use the applicable edition of one of the following:
(i) The prescriptive methods for residential buildings in the International Energy Conservation Code compliance guide containing state maps, prescriptive energy packages and related software published by the United States Department of Energy, Building Standards and Guidelines Program (REScheckTM).
(ii) Pennsylvania’s Alternative Residential Energy Provisions developed by the Pennsylvania Housing Research Center at the Pennsylvania State University.
(2) As an alternate to the ICC International Residential Code, Chapter 3, regarding building planning, in regard to stairway construction, the manufacturer may use the following standard:
(i) The maximum riser height must be 8 1/4 inches. There may be no more than 3/8-inch variation in riser height within a flight of stairs. The riser height is to be measured vertically between leading edges of the adjacent treads.
(ii) The minimum tread depth must be 9 inches measured from tread nosing to tread nosing. There may be no more than 3/8-inch variation in tread depth within a flight of stairs.
(iii) Treads may have a uniform projection of not more than 1 1/2 inches when solid risers are used.
(iv) Stairways may not be less than 3 feet in clear width and clear head room of 6 feet 8 inches must be maintained for the entire run of the stairway.
(v) Handrails may project from each side of a stairway a distance of 3 1/2 inches into the required width of the stairway.
(3) As an alternate to the ICC International Building Code, Chapter 13, regarding energy efficiency, the manufacturer may use the applicable edition of prescriptive methods for buildings or structures in the current version of the International Energy Conservation Code compliance guide containing state maps, prescriptive packages and related software published by the United States Department of Energy, Building Standards and Guidelines Program (COMcheckTM).
(b) Except as provided in § 145.43 (relating to amendment policy), the codes must be the latest edition. The effective date of code changes must be in accordance with § § 145.44 and 145.122(b) (relating to adoption and effective dates—code amendments; and effective date).
Authority The provisions of this § 145.42 amended under section 5 of the Industrialized Housing Act (35 P.S. § 1651.5).
(Editor’s Note: See 53 Pa.B. 830 (February 11, 2023) and 54 Pa.B. 145 (January 13, 2024) for notices regarding implementation of this section.)
Source The provisions of this § 145.42 adopted July 12, 1974, effective July 13, 1974, 4 Pa.B. 1403; amended September 8, 1978, effective March 9, 1979, 8 Pa.B. 2524; corrected September 22, 1978, effective March 9, 1979, 8 Pa.B. 2631; amended April 17, 1981, effective April 18, 1981, 11 Pa.B. 1320; amended July 8, 1988, effective July 9, 1988, 18 Pa.B. 3040; amended August 9, 1991, effective August 10, 1991, 21 Pa.B. 3509; amended September 19, 1997, effective September 20, 1997, 27 Pa.B. 4828; amended November 5, 2004, effective February 4, 2005, 34 Pa.B. 6024; effective date corrected at 34 Pa.B. 6133; amended April 20, 2007, effective June 20, 2007, 37 Pa.B. 1840; amended November 4, 2016, effective November 6, 2017, 46 Pa.B. 6976. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (349245) to (349246).
Cross References This section cited in 12 Pa. Code § 145.1 (relating to definitions); 12 Pa. Code § 145.36 (relating to applicability of locally-enacted codes and ordinances); 12 Pa. Code § 145.43 (relating to amendment policy); 12 Pa. Code § 145.44 (relating to adoption and effective dates—code amendments); 12 Pa. Code § 145.45 (relating to proposals by local enforcement agencies relating to special environmental conditions); 12 Pa. Code § 145.46 (relating to applicability and interpretation of code provisions); 12 Pa. Code § 145.47 (relating to acquisition of adopted codes and amendments); 12 Pa. Code § 145.52 (relating to approval of building system documentation); 12 Pa. Code § 145.55 (relating to general requirements for approval of amendments to building system documentation); 12 Pa. Code § 145.56 (relating to amendments to building system documentation following changes in standards); 12 Pa. Code § 145.65 (relating to certification of experimental housing); 12 Pa. Code § 145.70 (relating to Departmental evaluation and inspection); 12 Pa. Code § 145.71 (relating to responsibilities of evaluation agencies); 12 Pa. Code § 145.92 (relating to reports by the Department); and 12 Pa. Code § 145.102 (relating to determinations of acceptability of certifications of a competent state authority).
No part of the information on this site may be reproduced for profit or sold for profit.
This material has been drawn directly from the official Pennsylvania Code full text database. Due to the limitations of HTML or differences in display capabilities of different browsers, this version may differ slightly from the official printed version.
