Summary
The US model building code's assistive listening rules, which most state and local building codes adopt with amendments.
Key findings
- Requires an assistive listening system in each building, room or space used for assembly where audible communications are integral to its use; outside courtrooms, none is required where there is no audio amplification system.
- Table 1109.2.7.1 sets receivers by seating capacity (2 for 50 seats or fewer, rising to 55 plus 1 per 100 seats over 2,000), with 2 hearing-aid-compatible receivers up to 200 seats and 1 in 4 above that. Exceptions allow pooling receivers across rooms under one management, and drop the hearing-aid-compatible minimum where an induction loop serves all seats.
- Section 1109.2.7.2 says that where stadiums and arenas have ticket windows, at least one window at each location must have an assistive listening system. Section 1109.2.7.3 separately requires stadiums, arenas and grandstands with 15,000 or more fixed seats that make audible public announcements to caption them.
- Each assembly area must have a sign, with the International Symbol of Access for Hearing Loss, saying that assistive listening is available; signs at each ticket office or window can replace signs at each assembly area.
- Refers to ICC A117.1 (its list of referenced standards gives the 2017 edition) and does not mention Bluetooth or Auracast.
- Section 1109.2.7.1, exception 1, permits pooling only within one building under one management, with every receiver usable with every system. The asterisks in Table 1109.2.7.1 mean that fractions of the seat increments and the one-per-four receiver share are rounded upward.
- Table 1109.2.7.1 requires two receivers up to 50 seats; two plus one per 25 seats over 50 for both the 51-200 and 201-500 bands; 20 plus one per 33 over 500 for 501-1,000 seats; 35 plus one per 50 over 1,000 for 1,001-2,000 seats; and 55 plus one per 100 over 2,000. Each increment includes fractions.
- Section 1112.4 item 1 requires the availability sign to meet ICC A117.1 visual-character requirements as well as carry the International Symbol of Access for Hearing Loss.
Limits
A model code: it applies only where a state or local government adopts it, often with amendments. The date is the version label shown on ICC's site (August 2023). This audit used the archived excerpts of sections 1109.2.7 through 1109.2.7.3 and 1112.4; the saved HTML is a page shell, not the full chapter. No paid commentary was read.
Read the original
codes.iccsafe.org/content/IBC2024P1/chapter-11-accessibility
Cited in
- Which systems satisfy the ADA and building codes, and does a listener's own phone count?Disputed
- How many receivers and neckloops does each code require, and how should a loan pool be run?Partly answered
- How do many transmitters share one broadcast across a large venue?Open
- Open or protected: when should a venue broadcast need a code?Open
- Can Auracast serve ticket windows, service counters and reception desks?Open
- How do listeners learn that a venue has assistive listening, and which signs and symbols do the rules ask for?Partly answered
- What works in courtrooms, council chambers and other meeting rooms where speech must be heard by all and kept in the room?Partly answered
- What works in theatres and cinemas, and what do the rules ask of them?Partly answered
- What works in stadiums and arenas, and what do the rules ask of them?Partly answered
Cite this source
International Code Council. 2024 International Building Code, Chapter 11 Accessibility: 1109.2.7 Assistive listening systems and 1112.4 Other signs. International Code Council (ICC Digital Codes). August 2023. https://codes.iccsafe.org/content/IBC2024P1/chapter-11-accessibility (accessed 13 October 2026).
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