The South Carolina Building Codes Council (BCC) voted yesterday to keep the IRC sprinkler requirement in its adoption of the 2009 IRC. The vote was 6 to 3 in favor of keeping the sprinkler requirements in the code. The battle over sprinklers took up most of the allotted time and all proposed modifications were not able to be heard, so they will be scheduling another BCC meeting to address the remaining other proposed code modifications that are being contested, such as the requirement for tamper resistant electrical receptacles.
We aren't out of the woods yet! With regards to sprinklers, there is still the possibility of the effect of the current session of the state legislature to worry about. There is a Senate bill, S1057, that could interfere as seen below. The latest version of the bill can be read at: http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess118_2009-2010/prever/1057_20100203.htm The main problem is the language in this section / SECTION ___. A. Chapter 9, Title 6 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding: "Section 6-9-55. (A) No building code provision that requires an automatic residential fire sprinkler system be installed in a new one-family or two-family dwelling shall be enforced. (B) A prospective homeowner of a one-family or two-family dwelling in a jurisdiction in which installation of an automatic fire sprinkler system is required by a building code provision may choose whether to have the sprinkler system installed. (C) A residential builder or general contractor of a one-family or two-family dwelling in a jurisdiction in which an automatic fire sprinkler system is required by the International Residential Code shall offer the homeowner the option of installing an approved automatic fire sprinkler system in accordance with the International Residential Code. (D) To the extent that the provisions of this section conflict with any law or local ordinance, this section shall control." B. This section takes effect January 1, 2011. / David W. S. Blackwell, II, PE, CFI-I, CFPE Engineering ---------------------------------------------------------------- Office of State Fire Marshal 141 Monticello Trail Columbia, SC 29203 Phone: 803.896.9833 Fax: 803.896.9806 Email: [email protected] OSFM Website: http://www.llr.state.sc.us/firemarshal.asp ---------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [email protected] To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[email protected] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field)
