Code Compliance & Approvals

BuildBlock Insulating concrete forms have been thoroughly tested by Intertek and the National Research Council of Canada and have received Evaluation Reports from Intertek and CCMC stating they are code compliant in the United States and Canada. Please contact our technical department with any questions.

The sections below include National Testing Information as well as Local/Regional Code Approvals.

Intertek Code Compliance Research Report CCRR-1003

CCRR-1003-revised-3-26-2020.pdf

BuildBlock Design Number BBS/ICF 180-01 / ASTM E119 Fire Rating

Load Bearing and Non-load Bearing Fire Resistance Rated Wall Assemblies Maximum Load 5000 lb/lin ft – Assembly Rating – 3 Hour Rating

BBS-ICF-180-01.pdf

Canadian Construction Materials Centre – CCMC 13283-R

CCMC-final-Evaluation-Report.pdf

International Building Code (IBC)

The International Residential Code has adopted the Prescriptive Code regarding ICFs and addresses them in detail. Please direct your local code official to the following sections

IBC 2012	Chapter 19: Concrete, Chapter 26; Foam Plastic Insulation
IBC 2009	Chapter 19: Concrete, Chapter 26; Foam Plastic Insulation
IBC 2006	Chapter 19: Concrete, Chapter 26; Foam Plastic Insulation
IBC 2003	Chapter 19: Concrete, Chapter 26; Foam Plastic Insulation

International Residential Building Code (IRC)

The International Residential Code has adopted the Prescriptive Code regarding ICFs and addresses them in detail. Please direct your local code official to the following sections.

IRC 2012	R404.1: Concrete and Masonry Foundation Walls R611: Exterior Concrete Wall Construction
IRC 2009	R404.1: Concrete and Masonry Foundation Walls R611: Exterior Concrete Wall Construction
IRC 2006	Sections 404.4 through 404.4.11: ICF Foundation Walls Sections 611 through 611.9: ICF Wall Construction
IRC 2003	Sections 404.4 through 404.4.11: ICF Foundation Walls Sections 611 through 611.9: ICF Wall Construction

Other Resources

Prescriptive Method for Insulating Concrete Forms in Residential Construction, Second Edition (January 2002, 214 p.)For the code-approved installation method of ICFs and engineering tables, download this document for free from the HUD website at http://www.huduser.org/portal/publications/destech/icf_2ed.html

prescriptive-method-for-icf-2-edition.pdf prescriptive-method-for-icf-2-edition-appendix.pdf

EPS Compliance Document

This document includes specific information from Underwriters Laboratories “smoke developed” and “flame spread” tests for the expandable polystyrene used in BuildBlock ICF’s. Also included is the ICC-ES and ICBO expandable polystyrene reports indicating full compliance with the UBC, IBC and IRC building codes.

EPS_Compliance_Document.pdf

Below-grade Use of ICFs in Termite

Infested States According to the ICFA, the International Residential Code has provisions in the IRC to allow for foam to be used below-grade. The IRC stipulates in addition to chemical soil treatment, foam can be used below-grade on the exterior of the wall if one of the following requirements is met:

All interior partition walls and roof trusses are built of a non-combustible material such as steel studs or pressure treated lumber.
An approved method for protecting the foam plastic and structure is used.

For more information, see BuildBlock’s white paper entitled Insulating Concrete Forms and Termite Code Requirements.

TermiteWhitePaper.pdf