Louisiana Ground Snow Load: The Code and the Local Figures

Louisiana 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 the parish or municipality that enforces the Louisiana State Uniform Construction Code. one figures published by Louisiana bodies themselves are set out below. 17 states are in the same position, which makes it the second commonest arrangement in the country. one figure for Louisiana, reading 0, quoted from the document it was printed in.

The parish or municipality that enforces the Louisiana State Uniform Construction Code: the state adopts the national code without writing any snow load amendment, so the design criteria table is filled in by the parish or municipality issuing the permit. In its own words: “Effective January 1, 2007, all municipalities and parishes shall enforce the Louisiana State Uniform Construction Code. Municipalities and parishes may establish agreements with other governmental entities or registered and certified third party providers to issue permits and enforce the state uniform construction code.”

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

Louisiana State Uniform Construction Code Council adopts Louisiana State Uniform Construction Code, Louisiana Administrative Code Title 17, Construction, Part I (International Residential Code, 2021 Edition, and International Building Code (IBC), 2021 Edition). Louisiana adopted it as written. The adopting rule reads: “International Residential Code, 2021 Edition, not including Parts I-Administrative, and VIII-Electrical. The applicable standards referenced in that code are included for regulation of construction within this state.”

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. The parish or municipality that enforces the Louisiana State Uniform Construction 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 the parish or municipality that enforces the Louisiana State Uniform Construction Code. The document behind it is LAC Title 17, Part I, Chapter 1, Adoption of the Louisiana State Uniform Construction Code, Section 107, International Residential Code, published by Louisiana State Uniform Construction Code Council, read on September 23, 2026. It establishes the point this way: “International Residential Code, 2021 Edition, not including Parts I-Administrative, and VIII-Electrical. The applicable standards referenced in that code are included for regulation of construction within this state.”

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.