MECKLENBURG COUNTY
Land Use and Environmental Services Division
Code Enforcement
Memo
Date:
To:
From:
Re:
June 19, 2007
All customers
Building Development Commission members
Jim Bartl, Director of Code Enforcement
Live-work code change
Since 2002, the Department has supported modification of the International Residential Code (IRC) to
accommodate live-work units. Considerations underlying that support include the following:
• Live-work units allow residents to operate a public service business out of their residences with
employees, if the public enters the work area of the units to acquire the service. Examples of livework commercial functions include artist studios, coffee shops and chiropractors’ offices.
• Live-work units are a throwback to planning in the 1900-era, where one walked to all needed
services (for example, the typical corner commercial store scattered across many old cities). Livework units began to re-emerge in the 1990’s through a development style known as Traditional
Neighborhood Design (TND). More recently, the adaptive reuse of many older urban structures in
city centers has incorporated the same live-work tools to provide a variety of residential unit types.
• Until now, there was no provision for any use other than residential in the IRC. Since live-work
units mix in a commercial use (the “work area”), they were driven out of the IRC, into the
International Building Code (IBC). This incurred an increase in code related construction
requirements (use separation, construction type, egress, fire prevention) far in excess of any low risk
hazard present in the work function. The added requirements drove the construction costs up, and
inevitably drove the units out of the affordable housing range.
On May 24, 2007, the International Code Council Final Action Hearings approved a live-work code change to
both the IBC and IRC. A copy of the final code change language is attached for your reference. This code
change will be incorporated in the 2009 IRC and IBC, and will likely be available in North Carolina no sooner
then the 2011/2012 North Carolina Building Code and Residential Code.
To benefit the Mecklenburg County community, effective immediately, the Department will accept
residential project live-work proposals (that is, live-work proposals on one-and two- family dwellings, or
town homes) using the ICC approved 5.24.07 live-work code change as an equivalent alternate method.
• Note: the Live-Work code change would result in a reduction of requirements if applied to
commercial projects. As an alternate material and method, it would not provide equivalency as
required by the NC State Building Code, and therefore may not be utilized for commercial projects
until formally adopted by the North Carolina Building Code Council.
Any questions concerning use of the live-work alternate method should be addressed to Gene Morton (336-3503),
Willis Horton (336-4301) or me (336-3827).
PEOPLE • PRIDE • PROGRESS• PARTNERSHIPS
700 North Tryon Street • Charlotte, North Carolina • (704) 336-2831 • Fax (704) 336-3839
www...meckpermit.com