Maine Ground Snow Load: The Code and the Local Figures

Maine 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 municipal code enforcement office, under the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code. three figures published by Maine bodies themselves are set out below. 17 states are in the same position, which makes it the second commonest arrangement in the country. three Maine figures, running from 70 lbs at Bangor to 80 lb/sqft at Hermon, every one of them quoted from the document it was printed in. Nationally 235 figures were read across 33 states.

The municipal code enforcement office, under the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code: the state points every address at the national tool, and the town or city code office is who applies the answer. In its own words: “This chapter provides express limitations on municipal home rule authority. The Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code must be enforced in a municipality that has more than 4,000 residents.”

Part of Maine is a case study area, meaning the published document expressly declines to give those places a figure and sends the designer back to the local building department for one. 16 states carry a rule like this, and it is the commonest reason a search for a single number comes back empty. The rule reads: “If "Case Study Required" is displayed, click the return button in the upper right corner and follow the below instructions. 1) Select "ASCE/SEI 7-22" under Standard Version 2) Select the appropriate Risk Category 3) Check "Snow" for Load Type 4) Click "View Results" 5) The Snow Load given should be reduced by the following equation to bring it to ASCE/SEI 7-16 loads: SL22 * 0.70 = SL16 (Value not less than100 lb/ft2)”

The figure is keyed to the county in Maine, as it is in 21 states, so the county line rather than the town line is what changes the answer. The published Maine figures run from 70 lbs to 80 lb/sqft.

Technical Building Codes and Standards Board, Maine Office of Community Affairs adopts Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code (MUBEC) (MUBEC, with ASCE 7-16 for snow loads). Maine amended it rather than adopting it whole, and 22 states have done the same. The adopting rule reads: “The Technical Building Codes and Standards Board, established in Title 5, section 12004-G, subsection 5-A and located within the Maine Office of Community Affairs, is established to adopt, amend and maintain the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code, to resolve conflicts between the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code and the fire and life safety codes in Title 25, sections 2452 and 2465 and to provide for training for municipal building officials, local code enforcement officers and 3rd-party inspectors.”

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 municipal code enforcement office, under the Maine Uniform Building and Energy 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 municipal code enforcement office, under the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code. The document behind it is Maine Snow Loads: Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code (MUBEC) | ASCE 7-16, published by Office of State Fire Marshal, Maine Department of Public Safety, read on September 23, 2026. It establishes the point this way: “The following instructions are a guide to help code enforcement officials and designers determine ground snow loading across the State of Maine that meet MUBEC requirements. To determine ground snow loads for the MUBEC: 1) Use the following website and enter the exact address of the site to be designed: https://ascehazardtool.org/ 2) Select "ASCE/SEI 7-16" under Standard Version”

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.