Appendix Q: The Back Story
Photo: Rafter B Tiny Homes
The International Residential Code has a Big Vision for Tiny Houses February 1st, 2018
Appendix Q Tiny House is the first set of building standards for dwellings ever incorporated into a model code. The story of how the appendix came to be is a great example of how the Code Council works together with stakeholders and industry professionals to develop model code standards for new and innovative technologies as they emerge.
At the hearing, however, one person had testified in “friendly opposition” to the proposal: Martin Hammer, an architect who had co-authored the IRC’s straw-bale construction appendix. Following the hearing, Hammer received a call from his friend Andrew Morrison of TinyHouseBuild.com, a builder and educator who had helped Hammer write the appendix. “Andrew asked if I thought we could submit a different proposal,” Hammer recalled.
Tiny-house advocates across the country reviewed the draft language and donated funds to pay for Hammer’s time as a consultant and to help Morrison and others travel to Kansas City to attend the public hearings. Morrison also received helpful feedback from the International Code Council, which he incorporated into the draft.
