Lawrence, KS Accessory Structures: Tiny Homes (2026)

Lawrence City Code § 5-604 deletes every appendix to the 2018 International Residential Code unless the city specifically readopts it, then lists the appendices the city keeps: Appendix E (manufactured housing used as dwellings), Appendix F (radon control methods), Appendix J (existing buildings and structures), Appendix M (home day care, R-3 occupancy), Appendix Q ("Tiny Houses"), Appendix R (light straw-clay construction), and Appendix S (strawbale construction). Because Appendix Q is on that adopted list, a tiny house that meets the appendix's scope, generally a dwelling unit of 400 square feet or less in floor area excluding lofts, built under the 2018 IRC in Lawrence can follow Appendix Q's alternative ceiling height, loft, egress and stair provisions rather than the standard IRC dimensional requirements.

The adoption sits inside article VI of chapter 5, the residential code article; § 5-601 adopts the 2018 IRC as the city's residential code overall, and § 5-603 clarifies that the article's amendments, including the appendix list in § 5-604, only change the specific sections identified. No separate tiny-house zoning category, minimum lot size or accessory-dwelling permit process appears in the printed municipal code; placement, use-district eligibility and any accessory-structure limits run through the city's land development code, adopted separately and not reproduced here.