ICC Rejects NAHB Residential Sprinkler Appeal 

December 17, 2008 – The appeals committee of the International Code Council (ICC) has voted unanimously to reject an appeal of recently approved residential sprinkler requirements filed by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The requirements, slated for inclusion in the 2009 edition of the International Residential Code (IRC), follow affirmative votes last September in Minneapolis, where ICC’s Voting Governmental Members overwhelmingly supported Proposals RB64 and RB66 to require fire sprinklers in all new single and two-family dwellings and townhouses. The IRC is a model code that regulates new home construction in 48 states and the District of Columbia.

This is a significant victory for the IAFF and the fire service. With this ruling, the IAFF is one step closer to obtaining a residential sprinkler standard.

“Residential fire sprinklers protect fire fighters and the communities that they serve,” says General President Harold Schaitberger. “We are especially proud of the many IAFF members who attended and voted for residential sprinklers requirements during the ICC hearings in Minneapolis.”

NAHB’s appeal had asked ICC to set aside the Minneapolis vote because of claimed procedural irregularities, including an assertion that fire fighters, who had been credentialed by ICC as Voting Governmental Members, should not have been permitted to vote in the ICC process.

ICC’s Appeals Board conducted a public hearing on behalf of the ICC Board of Directors, where interested parties were permitted to provide input on the merits, or lack thereof, of NAHB’s claims.

At the conclusion of the hearing, the Appeals Board affirmed that the IRC’s new fire sprinkler requirements resulted from valid actions of the ICC membership, and a recommendation to reject the appeal was issued to the ICC Board of Directors.

Chester Ashton, president of Cleveland, OH Local 93 and whose resolution on residential sprinklers was presented and passed at the 2008 IAFF Convention stays, “While a fire sprinkler will not prevent a fire, its operation and use allows fire fighters more time to perform search and rescue operations and potentially reduce civilian and fire fighter fatalities.

The full ICC Board of Directors will now review the appeal at its upcoming meeting December 19, when a final ruling is expected.