The National Fire Protection Association
BALTIMORE — Calling it a critical step toward reducing deaths and destruction caused by home fires, National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) President James M. Shannon applauded the recent vote by the International Code Council (ICC) to retain the code provision in the next edition of the International Residential Code (IRC) that all new one- and two-family homes to be equipped with home fire sprinklers. The 2009 IRC included this provision for the first time. Proposals were then submitted to remove the requirement for the next edition and have now been voted down. NFPA supplied testimony for support of the provision at the hearing prior to the vote.
Residential sprinklers have been required in the following NFPA codes: NFPA 1, Uniform Fire Code®; NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code®; and NFPA 5000®, Building Construction and Safety Code® since the 2006 editions.
“Sprinklers save lives and this vote shows that we are all aligned towards bringing this important safety feature to where it is needed most,” said Shannon. According to NFPA, nearly 3,000 people a year die in fires and more than 80 percent of people that die in fires are killed in home fires. The risk of dying in a home fire is cut by about 80 percent 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.”
NFPA launched the Fire Sprinkler Initiative – Bringing Safety Home earlier this year. The initiative is a coordinated nationwide effort to increase the number of homes with fire sprinklers by advocating for the adoption of fire sprinkler requirements for new construction of one and two family homes. The campaign:
- encourages jurisdictions to put in place home fire sprinkler requirements by adopting local ordinances or model codes including NFPA 1, Uniform Fire Code®; NFPA 101, Life Safety Code®, NFPA 5000®, Building Construction & Safety Code® and the International Code Council International Residential Code (IRC).
- provides materials and resources to support the adoption of sprinkler requirements in communities all across the country.
- hosts an online community for those interested in furthering the use of home fire sprinklers.
The Web site is www.firesprinklerinitiative.org.
About the Fire Sprinkler Initiative: Bringing Safety Home
The Fire Sprinkler Initiative, a project of the National Fire Protection Association, is a nationwide effort to mandate the use of home fire sprinklers for new construction.
About NFPA
NFPA has been a worldwide leader in providing fire, electrical, building, and life safety to the public since 1896. The mission of the international nonprofit organization is to reduce the worldwide burden of fire and other hazards on the quality of life by providing and advocating consensus codes and standards, research, training, and education. Visit NFPA’s Web site at www.nfpa.org.