H-3178.1
SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2381
State of Washington
69th Legislature
2026 Regular Session
By House Local Government (originally sponsored by Representatives Duerr, Bernbaum, Ramel, Reed, Parshley, and Kloba)
READ FIRST TIME 01/27/26.
AN ACT Relating to performance-based building codes for low-rise residential buildings; amending RCW 19.27A.020 ; adding a new section to chapter 19.27 RCW; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that Washington faces an ongoing shortage of low-rise residential buildings and that existing building code compliance pathways are largely prescriptive or applied on a project-by-project basis, increasing permitting uncertainty, limiting innovation, and constraining the ability to scale housing production. Performance-based building codes are effectively used nationally and internationally to address structural design, fire and life safety, egress, durability, and other core building functions, enabling repeatable approvals and industrialized housing delivery. Washington currently lacks a comparable, system-level performance-based compliance pathway under the international building code for low-rise residential buildings.
The legislature further finds that establishing a codified performance-based compliance pathway for low-rise residential buildings can reduce regulatory friction, improve permitting predictability, and support off-site manufacturing and industrialized construction. By allowing housing systems and building plans to demonstrate compliance based on measured performance rather than prescribed methods, such a pathway can enable reuse of approved designs across jurisdictions, support manufacturing at scale, and help reduce the cost of housing delivery while maintaining appropriate health, safety, and welfare protections.