You may have received an e-mail and notice from the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) several weeks ago stating that a new MRC will become effective on August 29, 2025. That communication noted: “the rules were adopted by reference to the 2021 edition of the International Residential Code, with amendments, deletions, and additions deemed appropriate for use in Michigan.” What it didn’t tell you was that your state association was filing a lawsuit to try and halt its implementation, as HBAM believes LARA has violated several provisions of state law in moving these new rules forward.

In mid-June, HBAM filed suit against LARA in the Michigan Court of Claims, seeking a restraining order on the publication of the MRC and an injunction that would prevent it from going into effect. Our legal counsel has indicated we should have a decision on these requests by early to mid-July. If we don’t get an injunction, Michigan builders will have 45 days from the time the MRC is published to get ready for its implementation. While LARA’s notice said it goes into effect August 29^th, that can only happen if the MRC is published 45 days or more before that. State law directs the department to provide at least 45 days from the date the new MRC is available before it can be enforced. Even if we were to fail in our effort to stop the 2021 code from going into effect, we believe it may take longer than anticipated to publish the MRC. As such, even if we are unsuccessful, it will likely be mid- to late-September before new rules go into effect.

Our legal arguments in our filing with the court revolve around the following:

LARA violated state law that says energy efficiency code changes must have a seven-year payback or better—the U.S. Department of Energy’s own analysis says these LARA-proposed energy efficiency code changes have a 12-year simple payback;

LARA violated the Administrative Procedures Act—this includes a lack of any regulatory impact statement answers on more than 98% of their proposed changes, as well as the lack of true public hearings as defined under the APA; and

LARA violated the State Construction Code Act which requires one published code book—LARA removed Chapter 11 and Part VIII of the Michigan Residential Code and replaced those sections by references to NFPA 70 (National Electrical Code) and the International Energy Conservation Code. This violates the requirement for a single, unitary and complete Michigan Residential Code.

HBAM believes these legal positions are solid. But, gaining an injunction can be difficult even when your case is strong. Stay tuned. One way or another, we will know the outcome in a matter of days.