Georgia Ground Snow Load: What the Adopted Code Carries

Georgia adopts the national building code without a ground snow load amendment of its own, so the governing figure for a given address is the one the code's own table carries, and the body that applies it is Georgia Department of Community Affairs, and the local government that enforces the code. 17 states are in the same position, which makes it the second commonest arrangement in the country. Georgia publishes ground snow loads through Georgia Department of Community Affairs, and the local government that enforces the code, and the jurisdictions reached for this had put none into a public document at the time they were read.

Georgia Department of Community Affairs, and the local government that enforces the code: the state adopts the national code and amends it, and leaves the snow load provisions untouched.

The figure is keyed to the county in Georgia, as it is in 21 states, so the county line rather than the town line is what changes the answer.

Georgia Department of Community Affairs adopts Georgia State Minimum Standard One and Two Family Dwelling Code (International Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings with Georgia State Amendments) (2018 Edition, revised January 1, 2020). Georgia amended it rather than adopting it whole, and 22 states have done the same. The adopting rule reads: “The INTERNATIONAL RESIDENTIAL CODE FOR ONE- AND TWO-FAMILY DWELLINGS, 2018 Edition, published by the International Code Council, when used in conjunction with these and any other Georgia State Amendments to the INTERNATIONAL RESIDENTIAL CODE FOR ONE- AND TWO-FAMILY DWELLINGS, 2018 Edition, shall constitute the official Georgia State Minimum Standard One- and Two-Family Dwelling Code.”

A ground snow load is a weight per unit area and not a depth, and the two are joined only by the density of the snow on the day, which is why the published documents give the load and leave the depth out. Wet spring snow and dry January snow of the same depth are different weights on the same roof. Georgia Department of Community Affairs, and the local government that enforces the code works in loads for that reason, and so does every figure set out below.

The code's figure is applied to a given address by Georgia Department of Community Affairs, and the local government that enforces the code. The document behind it is Georgia State Amendments to the International Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings (2018 Edition), published by Georgia Department of Community Affairs, read on September 23, 2026. It establishes the point this way: “The INTERNATIONAL RESIDENTIAL CODE FOR ONE- AND TWO-FAMILY DWELLINGS, 2018 Edition, published by the International Code Council, when used in conjunction with these and any other Georgia State Amendments to the INTERNATIONAL RESIDENTIAL CODE FOR ONE- AND TWO-FAMILY DWELLINGS, 2018 Edition, shall constitute the official Georgia State Minimum Standard One- and Two-Family Dwelling Code.”

14 of 50: Connecticut, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin. The other 36 split into 17 that adopt the national code without a snow amendment and 19 that leave every figure to a county or city building department. That is the single most useful fact about this subject and no one state's own website carries it.