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.
Lead on safer homes
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 investmentHOW DO WE UPDATE THE CODE?
Your community can have safer homes. Here's how to get there.
Fewer lives lost, less water used, lower costs for residents and taxpayers. It starts with one vote. Wherever your jurisdiction stands, there's a clear next step.
Start here
Commit, on the record, to keep sprinklers in the code at your next adoption.
Go all the way
Restore sprinklers this year, adopt the appendices with them, and publish what builders get in return.
- 1
Adopt the current code as written.
If your community hasn't adopted the current residential code yet, adopt it with the sprinkler section intact. New homes get the protection the code already expects.
- 2
Restore what was taken out.
If the sprinkler section was amended out, put it back by resolution. You don't have to wait for the next code cycle to protect the next homes built.
- 3
Give builders something back.
Adopt the fire code appendices that unlock road and water concessions. Builders save on infrastructure, which helps offset the cost of sprinklers.
- 4
Hear from your fire service.
Before you vote, ask the people who respond to the fires. They know what a small fire and a large fire cost your community.
The next step