International Code Council members voted 7 to 4 during the ICC code development hearings to retain residential fire sprinkler requirements in the International Residential Code. The fire-sprinkler provision was added to the IRC at last year's code-development hearings in Minneapolis.

“This current vote validates the process of developing codes through participation,” said Ronny Coleman, president of the IRC Fire Sprinkler Coalition and longtime sprinker advocate. “We’re very pleased that we achieved positive results on what was accomplished in Baltimore, but in essence, it’s not the end of the discussion.”

In fact, there is an effort underway to remove the provision, said Heather Schafer, executive director of the National Volunteer Fire Council.

Schafer said the vote was based on a petition from the National Homebuilders Association to remove the provision, which mandated that all newly constructed single-family and townhomes have installed sprinkler systems. In advance of the hearings, the NVFC urged members to join the ICC so they would be able to vote to retain residential fire sprinkler requirements in the IRC. She said the requirement provides safety measures for the U.S. fire service, so it's important they stay in place to protect firefighters and ensure the safety of citizens.

"The petition was put before the committee for a review and a vote," Schafer said. "So the fire service showed up in mass numbers to reflect their concern that it would be stripped out of the code."

NFPA President James Shannon called retention of the residential fire sprinkler provision “a critical step toward reducing deaths and destruction caused by home fires.”

Since 2006, three NFPA codes have required residential sprinklers: NFPA 1, Uniform Fire Code; NFPA 101, Life Safety Code; and NFPA 5000, Building Construction and Safety Code.

“Sprinklers save lives and this vote shows that we are all aligned towards bringing this important safety feature to where it is needed most,” Shannon said. According to NFPA, nearly 3,000 people a year die in fires and more than 80% of people that die in fires are killed in home fires. The risk of dying in a home fire is cut by about 80% with sprinklers.

“Getting home fire sprinklers in new homes today means we will provide a life-saving benefit for generations to come,” said Shannon. “It is an issue we can all get behind to lessen the fire problem in this country.”

Support of residential fire sprinklers now moves to the state policy-makers and local communities to promote and support the code.

The next edition of the IRC will become effective Jan. 1, 2011.