An Overview of Codes Standards and Regulations

In their December 2019 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	N	-	Y	N	N
Colorado	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Connecticut	Y	Y	-	Y	-
Florida*	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Georgia	N	Y	N	N	Y
Illinois	N	N	Y	Y	Y
Massachusetts	N	N	Depends	Depends	Depends
Michigan	N	Y	N	N	N
Missouri	N	N	-	-	-
New Jersey	Y	Y	Only	NICET II	-
New York	N	Y	Y	N	N
North Carolina	Y	Y	Y	Y	N
Ohio	Y	Y	N	N	Y & cert des.
Pennsylvania	Y	Y	N	N	N
Texas	Y	Y	Y	Y	-

*In Florida, a contractor can design systems with less than 49 sprinkler heads.

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	Other (CSA, Local)	Seismic protection required on fire sprinkler systems:
California	-	N	Y	Y
Colorado	-	-	No req.	N
Connecticut	N	N	-	N
Florida	Y	Y	Y	N
Georgia	via waiver	Y	N	N
Illinois	Y or	Y or	-	Only as req per NFPA 13
Massachusetts	State	License	-	Y in some areas
Michigan	N	N	-	Y
Missouri	No req.	No req.	No req.	N
New Jersey	Y	N	-	Yes, some
New York	No req.	No req.	No req.	Based on IBC req.
North Carolina	-	-	-	-
Ohio	N	N	Y, state cert	Y
Pennsylvania	-	-	-	Y
Texas	Y	-	-	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	2016 IBC & IFC, both amended	2016	Yes 2011	-	Yes or licensed sprinkler contractor
Colorado	2015 IBC & IFC; 2015 IRC; 2012 NFPA 101	2013	Yes	-	NICET III or above
Connecticut	2012 IBC, IFC & NFPA 101 2012 NFPA 1 - amended	2010	Yes 2011	-	No
Florida	2015 IBC, NFPA 1 & NFPA 101	2013	Yes 2014	-	Yes
Georgia	2012 IBC, IFC, NFPA101 – all amended	2013	Yes 2011	No	No
Illinois	SFMO enforces 2000 ed. of NFPA 101 for state fac. And state-licensed fac. Each local juris. can adopt its own codes. State est. 2006 IBC, IEBC, IPMC, & 2008 NFPA 70 min. standards for juris. that have not formally adopted codes (admin. by the IL Capital Dev. Board)	2002 minimum;Juris. that had adopted codes as of 2011 mat retain older ref. ed of NFPA in their adopted codes	No	Yes, varies by juris.	Yes
Massachusetts	2009 IBC amended; IFC partial amended, 2012 NFPA 1 – amended (1/1/15)	2010	Yes 2011	-	No
Michigan	2012 NFPA 101 & 2006 NFPA 1 – both amended	2010	Yes 2011	No	No
Missouri	-	1999	No	No	-
New Jersey	2015 NJ IBC New Construction; 2006 IFB NJ as maintenance code both amended	2013 as ref. by 2015 IBC	No	No	Yes
New York	2018 IBC & IFC, both amended	2016	Yes 2017	-	Yes
North Carolina	2015 IBC & 2012 IFC, both amended	2013	Yes	-	No
Ohio	2009 IBC & IFC, both amended	2010	Yes, 2008	Ohio Fire Code	Yes
Pennsylvania	2009 IBC & IFC	2007	No	No	No
Texas	2012 NFPA 101 amended	2013	Yes	-	No

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