For local lawmakers
Build every new home to the code.
Fire sprinklers save lives, save water, and save money. Here is the evidence, and answers to the questions constituents and builders will ask.
The case for updating the code
Safer homes are already standard - when local governments follow the code.
WHAT IS THE CODE?
The International Residential Code is the national model code most jurisdictions adopt to set minimum safety standards for new one- and two-family homes. Since its 2009 edition, it has required fire sprinklers in every new home it covers.
WHY ARE SPRINKLERS IN THE CODE?
Because a small fire is less dangerous than a big one. Sprinklers act in the fire's first minutes—before it can grow—keeping it to the room where it started. Fewer people hurt. Less water used. Less damage to pay for.
Sprinklers can save lives, save water, and save money.
WHY DOES IT MATTER TO YOUR COMMUNITY?
Removing the protection doesn't remove the cost—it leaves the community to carry it.
Without sprinklers, families face greater losses. Firefighters face greater danger. More water is needed to fight a larger fire. Keeping sprinklers in the code helps prevent those costs in the first place.
The ask
To save money, save water, and save lives, adopt the current residential code, including standard sprinkler requirements.
Save lives
Smoke alarms warn people about a fire. Sprinklers act on it—controlling the fire in its first minutes, while people may still be inside.
The case for protecting lives
Save water
A small fire takes less water to control. Home sprinklers can use far less water than firefighters need to put out a fire that has grown.
The evidence on water use
Save money
The cost of a fire does not end at the front door. Sprinklers reduce property losses, and eligible builder trade-ups can help offset installation costs.
The case for the investmentStart here
The questions officials ask first
- 1What do sprinklers cost homebuyers?
- 2But I’ve heard that sprinklers can cost $15,000 per home.
- 3What share of a new home would sprinklers cost?
- 4How does that compare to everything else that goes into a house?
- 5What does a fire cost us if we do nothing?
- 6Are there hidden costs? Drawings, plan review, and the like?
What we are asking for
One of four things, depending on where your jurisdiction stands.
The smallest yes
A commitment to retain the provision at the next code adoption, made now, on the record.
The largest
Restore the provision by resolution this year, adopt the fire code appendices alongside it, and direct staff to publish the trade-up schedule so builders know what they get.
- 1
If it has not yet adopted the current residential code, adopt it as written, without amending the sprinkler section out.
- 2
If it has adopted the code and amended the section out, restore the section by resolution without waiting for the next cycle.
- 3
If it wants to offer builders the road and water concessions that offset the cost, adopt the fire code appendices that unlock them.
- 4
And in every case, hear from the fire service before deciding.
The next step