Call To Action:  No Later Than June 16, 2025|
Update: June 22, 2025 

The International Code Council ( ICC) is developing a tiny house standard by the OSMTH 1215 Committee and ICC is co-branding the standard with the Tiny Home Industry Association ( THIA). 

The current title of the standard is called ICC/THIA 1215 – 202x Design, Construction and Regulation of Tiny Houses for Permanent Occupancy.

The original intent was to add chassis provisions to progress tiny houses on wheels as a viable solution for housing and further the progress of Appendix Q  Tiny Houses. 

The standard has been completely hijacked by the Small Residential Unit ( SRU ) and Tiny Houses has now become an incidental focus. 

Initial Press Release 

Definition Of The SRU In The Standard

SMALL RESIDENTIAL UNIT (SRU). A dwelling that is 1200 square feet (111 m2) or less excluding lofts and is constructed as a permanent residential structure with or without a permanent chassis. 

There has been a great debate in the OSMTH 1215 committee  regarding the Small Residential Unit takeover of the standard which is the agenda of ICC.  

They want to position the Small Residential Unit, a made up term that is not used by anyone and is not enforceable over Tiny Houses, a codified term in the IRC, making Tiny Houses a subcategory under the Small Residential Unit.

On May 16, 2025,  the ANSI Standards Action Newsletter published a revised PINS notification that the International Code Council ( ICC) submitted to add the the Small Residential Unit ( SRU) to the title and the scope of the Tiny House standard.

The proposed new title is ICC/THIA 1215-202x, Design, Construction, Inspection and Regulation of Small Residential Units and Tiny Houses for Permanent Occupancy.

May 16, 2025 PINS Announcement: Page 5 

The new revised PINS allows the tiny house industry and anyone materially affected by the standard to comment and submit a PINS complaint regarding the standard, with the opportunity to appeal. 

Listen To The Video Of The Hearing At The CAH # 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Small Residential Unit was vigorously opposed at the CAH hearing,  and ICC did not listen. They had a chance to get the standard back into compliance with the approved title, scope, and intent of the standard, and the primary purpose to add chassis provisions to tiny houses, adopted into the IRC, but instead tiny houses have been hijacked by the Small Residential Unit.  

It is clearly an agenda of ICC and they have an overreach in their involvement as a Standard Developer that is dominating the standard in violation of ANSI Essential Requirements that prohibit dominance.

The standards development process shall not be dominated by any single interest category, individual or organization. Dominance means a position or exercise of dominant authority, leadership, or influence by reason of superior leverage, strength, or representation to the exclusion of fair and equitable consideration of other viewpoints.

Direct Link To Hearing​

Initial Press Release Of The Standard 

ICC has violated ANSI requirements regarding filing a new revised PINS and publishing substantive changes in ANSI Standards Action. 

ICC should have immediately published a request for comments in ANSI Standards Action and a revised PINS when the standard took the direction toward the Small Residential Unit, which was right in the early meetings, not after 20 meetings. Janet Thome has continually asked for a revised PINS since Sept. 2024, and it was denied. 

The only reason this is being done now  is because the draft is not in compliance with the original approved title, and scope that was approved by the ICC board of directors. 

ICC failed to publish a Call For Comments  to view Substantive Changes in ANSI Standards Action linking to a document with the substantive changes in the standard, which include every time the Small Residential Unit, or the SRU was listed in text in the standard. 

ICC is treating this as a mere title change, and that is not the case, the entire standard is about the Small Residential Unit. 

A substantive change in a proposed American Standard is one that directly and materially affects the use of the standard. Addition, deletion, or revision of requirements, regardless of the number of changes require an announcement in ANSI Standards Action. 

The PINS announcement did not adequately include stakeholders and interested parties that include owner builders and on-site builders or give a reason in the Project Need for the inclusion of the Small Residential Unit in the standard, or alert the public of it's primary placement over tiny houses. 

ICC has stacked the voting committee members with THIA, and their close associates, there is not a balance of interests, and it is dominated by ICC and THIA, and the standard is not being developed in an open, fair process as required by ANSI and federal laws in a standard development setting. 

There is also an overabundance of manufacturers and the environment is hostile, with an ICC paid staff VP of an ICC subsidiary that has been  bullying interested parties and he is a voting member, and was on the board of THIA for almost 5 years, including the initial planning of the OSMTH 1215 committee. 

There are now 3 formal complaints against him. 

ICC will not answer our complaints in violation of ICC Consensus Procedures. 

ANSI requires that the committee is made of of a diverse group, but they have also violated this process and turned down key industry stakeholders that applied to be on the committee, but were denied in favor of the stacked committee to fulfill the not so hidden agenda, formulated beyond closed doors. 

What Can You Do? 

Say NO To The Small Residential Unit ( SRU) And Oppose The Positioning Of Tiny Houses As A Subcategory Under The SRU. 

Please sign and share the petition. 

Submit A PINS Complaint

Join Us For A Group Complaint 

Attend The Calls As The Draft Is Being Developed 

Join Us On A Group Appeal If They Do Not Remove The Small Residential Unit From The Standard

Appeal Yourself 

Thank You In Advance 

Let's Get This Standard Turned Around And Back Toward A Focus On Tiny Houses. 

How To Submit A PINS Complaint: Deadline Before June 16, 2025

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Make Sure That You Include The OSMTH 1215 Committee And Title Of The Standard To Your Complaint. The Title Is ICC/THIA 1215-202x, Design, Construction, Inspection and Regulation of Small Residential Units and Tiny Houses for Permanent Occupancy. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What Are Our Greatest Concerns? 

We are witnessing the corporate takeover of tiny houses.  They are trying to get rid of the tiny house term, and eventually the tiny house code known now in the 2024 IRC as Appendix BB Tiny Houses in future code cycles. 

Some have called the term tiny house 'inflammatory'.  On a recent meeting on March 19, 2025, there was a motion that removed the chassis from the definition of a TINY HOUSE.

Note: The original draft definition of a TINY HOUSES included the chassis.

TINY HOUSE. A SMALL RESIDENTIAL UNIT 400 square feet or less with or without a PERMANENT CHASSIS system. .

Current Definition: TINY HOUSE. A SMALL RESIDENTIAL UNIT that is 400 square feet (37 m2) or less excluding lofts.

Meeting Notes: March 19, 2025​

Initial Draft Of The Standard 

The Small Residential Unit will throw the tiny house industry in chaos, and disrupt all the great process of Appendix Q Tiny Houses, the crowning achievement of the industry that was the first step toward uniformity.

We need to preserve the grassroots tiny house movement re- ignited by Jay Shafer, the God Father of the tiny house industry that inspired a nation of and owner builders, also known as DIYers and advocates that are working diligently for tiny houses on wheels to be legally allowed and to be recognized as housing. 

Protecting The Interests Of Small Manufacturers And Owner Builders 

Our motive is to protect the interests of small manufacturers, and owner builders so the tiny house industry is not swallowed up by corporate interests, over the top regulations, expensive certification, including 100% factory certification, and the squeezing out of small manufacturers, opportunities for owner builders, and creating a barrier to entry. 

We want to protect the progress of tiny houses and further the tiny house industry, as an independent industry, not swept under Modular or HUD requirements, as the only requirements  that will be out of reach for many, and answer the call for affordable housing, creating a path for tiny houses on wheels. 

Thank you so much for signing, and sharing this petition! 

Janet Thome President 
Tiny House Alliance USA 
janet@tinyhouseallianceusa.org
509 345 2013
Cell 509 770 1694 

Mike Schmidt, Chairman/CEO
Ensemble Ventures, LLC.
Colorado Springs, CO 80935
 mschmidt@ensembleventuresllc.com

Melanie Copeland National Spokesperson
Tiny House Alliance USA
Owner Builder
Author Of Trailblazing Tiny: A Guide To Breaking Free 

Andrew Pleban Vice President 
Tiny House Alliance USA
Owner American Tiny House

Helpful Resources 

Dig Into The Backstory And The Facts 

Small Residential Unit Hijacking Tiny Houses In OSMTH 1215​

OSMTH 1215 Negative Impact To Tiny House Manufacturers​

Please Sign Macy Miller's Petition: Block Code Changes To Tiny Homes