Adopted edition
MBPS 2024 (IBC 2021 base + MD amendments)
City has its own adoption — separate from county.
MD · City
Baltimore, MD.
Baltimore is an independent city. Permits issue from the city, not Baltimore County. Historic preservation review (CHAP) covers many neighborhoods, and harbor-front parcels trigger flood-zone overlays.
Design wind speed
105 mph
ASCE 7 Risk Cat II, 3-second gust at 33 ft.
Climate zone (IECC)
4A
Drives R-value, fenestration U-factor, and air-leakage envelope rules.
Special zones
- HVHZ
- WBDR
- WUI
- FEMA SFHA possible
Permit office
Baltimore Department of Housing & Community Development
www.baltimorehousing.org/permits-licensesIndependent city — Baltimore issues its own permits, separate from Baltimore County.
Population
~565,000
Approximate. Drives roof-volume estimates and storm-event canvassing footprint.
ZIP coverage
25 ZIP codes inside Baltimore.
Each ZIP resolves to the correct city + county + state on every parcel lookup. Multi-jurisdiction parcels pick up amendments from each layer.
21201 21202 21205 21206 21207 21208 21209 21210 21211 21212 21213 21214 21215 21216 21217 21218 21222 21223 21224 21225 21226 21229 21230 21231 21251
City-specific amendments
What's specific to Baltimore.
- §01 Maryland Building Performance Standards (MBPS) is the state-mandated floor.
- §02 City Historic Preservation Commission review applies for parcels in CHAP-designated districts (Federal Hill, Mount Vernon, Fells Point, etc.).
- §03 Tidal Chesapeake/harbor flood overlays cover Inner Harbor and Canton waterfront parcels.
- §04 Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act applies to land within the city's Critical Area.
Working in Baltimore?
Pull an address-level code packet for any parcel in Baltimore. SkyCanvass resolves the address, looks up the Baltimore-specific amendments and the Baltimore City county and Maryland state floor, then emits a cited packet ready for permit submittal.
See the Baltimore (independent city) county overview, or the Maryland state directory .
Pull a Baltimore code packet.
Free to start — property lookups, state code access, the hail map, and your first storm report on us. No credit card required to look up an address.