2015: US State Code & Standard Legislative Review

In their November 2014 issue, Sprinkler Age magazine featured its Annual Legislative Review for the United States and Canada. This summary of legislation and codes offers an overview of regulations affecting the fire sprinkler industry in individual states. The information was obtained from a survey mailed to the fire marshals in all 50 states. Listed below are the responses and findings for California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas. A dash (-) indicates no response.

State	Requires Certification of:		Requires for Sprinkler Drawings:
State	Plan Reviewers	Inspectors	PE / Architect Seal	NICET Level III	NICET Level IV
California	Y	Y	N	N	N
Colorado	Y	Y	-	Y	-
Connecticut	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y per IBC
Florida*	Y	Y	Y	-	-
Georgia	N	Y	N	Y	Y
Illinois	N	N	Y	Layout	-
Massachusetts	N	N	Depends	Depends	Depends
Michigan	N	Y	N	N	N
Missouri	N	N	Y	N	N
New Jersey	Cert.	Y	Y	-	-
New York	N	Y	Y	N	N
North Carolina	Y	Y	-	Y	-
Ohio	Y	Y	N	N	Y & cert des.
Pennsylvania	Y	Y	N	N	N
Texas	Y	Y	-	Y	N

*In Florida, certification for fire inspector includes certification as a plans examiner.

Inspection, Testing & Maintenance and Seismic Protection Requirements
State	Required for those who perform inspection, testing and maintenance of water-based fire protection systems:			Seismic protection required on fire sprinkler systems:
State	NICET Level II	NICET Level III	No Requirement	Seismic protection required on fire sprinkler systems:
California	N	N	-	Y
Colorado	-	-	-	N
Connecticut	N	N	No req.	Y per code req.
Florida	Y	-	-	-
Georgia	Y waiver	Y	-	N
Illinois	Y	Y	-	Y, Per NFPA 13
Massachusetts	State	License	-	-
Michigan	N	N	-	Y
Missouri	-	-	No req.	Local AHJ governs
New Jersey	Y	-	N	Y
New York	N	N	-	-
North Carolina	-	Y	-	Y
Ohio	N	N	Y, state cert	Y
Pennsylvania	-	-	-	Y
Texas	Y	N	-	N

State	Code Adoption	NFPA 13 Edition Adopted	Adopted NFPA 25		Requires PE to do Sprinkler Design Concepts
State	Code Adoption	NFPA 13 Edition Adopted	Statewide	Locally	Requires PE to do Sprinkler Design Concepts
California	2012 IBC & IFC, both amended	2013	2011	-	Yes
Colorado	2012 IBC & IFC, NFPA1 & NFPA101	-	-	-	No
Connecticut	2003 NFPA1, 101, IBC & IFC – all amended	2007	Yes	-	Yes or NICET
Florida	2009 IBC, NFPA 1 & 101 – all amended	2007	2008	-	Yes
Georgia	2012 IBC, IFC, NFPA101 – all amended	2012	2011	-	No
Illinois	2000 NFPA 101 amended	Latest pub. Ed. For new sp. installs	Yes	-	Yes
Massachusetts	2009 IBC amended; IFC partly amended, 2012 NFPA1 – both amended	2010	2011	-	No
Michigan	2006 NFPA 101 & NFPA 1 – both amended	2002	Yes, 2002	No	No
Missouri	None	-	No	-	Yes
New Jersey	1996 BOCA amended maintenance, fire prevention; 2000 IBC & IFC amended - new constr.	1999 for new installs	Yes	-	Yes or Architect
New York	2006 IBC & IFC, both amended	2007	Yes, 2008	-	-
North Carolina	2009 IFC, amended	2007	Yes, 2008 Ed.	-	No
Ohio	2009 IBC & IFC, amended	2010	2008 Ed.	Yes, Ohio Fire Code	No
Pennsylvania	2009 IBC & IFC	2007	No	No	No
Texas	2003 IBC & IRC in cities; 2006 NFPA101 in counties	2002 for contractors	1998 Ed. for Contractors	Varies	No

Risk Logic, Inc. can be of assistance regarding fire protection Codes and Regulations. We can ensure that the above codes, as well as NFPA and FM Global standards, are being followed to avoid a major property loss

Legislative Review An Overview of Codes, Standards and Regulations in CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, IL, MA, MI, MS, NJ, NY, NC, OH, PA and TX