The International Code Council (ICC) dealt a blow to the homebuilding industry with 73 percent of voting members supporting a residential fire sprinkler requirement for all new one- and two-family homes and townhouses.
The code change was supported by fire service and building code officials and opposed by the homebuilding industry. The code proposal, RB64, overcame a procedural requirement that mandated a super-majority of two-thirds approval.
The ICCs International Residential Code (IRC) is used in 46 states. The sprinkler mandate will first appear in the 2009 IRC, which will be published by the end of the year.
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