UtahH.B. 452026 General SessionHouse

Fire Code Amendments

Sponsored By: Thomas W. Peterson (Republican)

Signed by Governor

BusinessConstructionConstruction and Fire CodesReal Property

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

42 provisions identified: 11 benefits, 0 costs, 31 mixed.

Residential sprinkler rules keep specific exceptions

Buildings with Group R residential fire areas need sprinklers throughout, except residential-code detached one- and two-family homes and townhouses. A one-story Group R-1 area up to 2,000 square feet is exempt with no plumbing, heating, or cooking and Type I-A, I-B, II-A, or II-B construction. Group R-4 areas up to 4,500 gross square feet and 16 residents are exempt with approved interconnected alarms powered by building wiring and commercial power. For the stated NFPA 13R rules, the highest floor and lowest story must each be within 40 feet of the lowest fire vehicle access level. Attics need no sprinklers when no other fire-code section requires sprinklers in the building.

Child care providers face location-based rules

Home child care requires compliance with state day-care fire rules, state approval under residential or family child-care categories, and local zoning. Group E generally covers four or more children age two or older receiving specified services for fewer than 24 hours daily. In specified settings, care for four or fewer children follows the main building use or residential-code options. Listed child-care centers can use accessory-occupancy treatment when they meet the building code's accessory-use requirements. Facilities caring for five to 100 children under two qualify as Group E only with rooms at exit-discharge level and each room opening directly outside.

Fire officials must explain appeal rights

Fire code officials must tell affected people they can appeal orders, decisions, or determinations about applying or interpreting the code. Officials must provide written information about that right upon request.

Hydrant relief for backyard rental homes

The law creates a fire hydrant exception covering one interior and one detached accessory dwelling on the same residential lot. This reduces the hydrant requirements for these added homes.

Limits on fire construction rules for homes

For structures built under the International Residential Code, only specified fire-code construction and design rules apply. These cover addresses, fire vehicle access, hydrants, water supplies, and required construction permits. Fire-code administration, operating, and maintenance rules still apply. The fire code does not override local land-use, subdivision, or development standards.

Limits on local home sprinkler mandates

Local officials can require sprinklers in homes built under the residential code only by ordinance and for listed reasons. Reasons include wildfire-interface locations that fail state standards or no public water system with hydrants. Another trigger is an only fire-access road with a grade above 10% for more than 500 continuous feet. Size triggers include homes over 10,000 square feet or at least twice the subdivision average for unsprinklered homes no larger than 10,000 square feet. Single-family homes outside the wildfire interface are exempt in one-lot subdivisions with 50 feet of defensible space on every side. Requirements for pre-existing subdivision lots cannot exceed these code limits.

Permitted home kitchens get hood relief

A cooking appliance in a microenterprise home kitchen does not need a Type 1 kitchen exhaust hood. The operator must obtain the home-kitchen permit required by Utah law.

Fire orders face limits and review

Officials can issue emergency requirements for matters the code does not address only for an immediate, significant danger requiring immediate action. Orders must cover only necessary action, with immediate notice and brief reasons. People facing continued harm to a legal right or interest can appeal through the fire-code appeal process. For locally regulated development, fire-code interpretations also face the specified advisory-opinion and land-use appeal processes.

College buildings need fire safety plans

College and university buildings, including fraternity and sorority houses, must have approved fire safety and evacuation plans. College residential buildings in Group R-2 must also meet the code's additional college-housing requirements. Qualifying academic assembly spaces must hold one evacuation drill each year. That annual rule requires a fire alarm, posted assembly-room safety plans, no high-rise classification, and hazardous materials within code limits.

Schools gain evacuation and drill flexibility

Teachers in Group E buildings can delay evacuation up to 60 seconds after an alarm. There must be no visible flame or smoke, approved alarms and sprinklers throughout, and students lined up in a safe zone ready to leave. Group E sites other than secondary schools can replace some monthly evacuation drills with approved safety or security drills. Routine evacuation drills must still occur at least every other drill.

Secondary schools follow new drill schedules

Covered secondary schools must schedule four evacuation drills during the nine-month school year, at least every two months. The first must occur within 10 school days after classes begin. The third is due within 10 school days after the next calendar year begins, weather permitting. Bad weather allows that drill as soon as practicable afterward. Shelter-in-place, earthquake, or violence-lockdown drills can replace the second and fourth evacuation drills.

Special education classrooms gain safety options

Special education classrooms can delay evacuation or shelter in place with no visible flame or smoke, full approved alarm and sprinkler protection, and an approved exit directly outside. Sheltering in place also needs fire-code official approval. An official can approve a solid red light instead of audible and visible classroom alarm devices. Beginning July 1, 2026, officials can modify the relevant chapter's requirements in educational areas used exclusively for special education students.

Projects can use independent fire reviewers

Fire-code approval includes an independent engineer's or architect's assessment, opinion, or service submitted to the fire-code official. The professional must be licensed in Utah and acceptable to all parties. They must be unaffiliated with the jurisdiction, owner, developer, project architect, and project engineer, and provide unbiased work.

Homes face stair and handrail standards

Covered Group R-3 homes, Group R-2 dwelling units, and specified accessory buildings have an 8-inch maximum riser and 9-inch minimum tread. Winder treads need at least 10 inches at the walk line and a 6-inch minimum depth. Solid-riser stairs with treads under 10 inches need nosing of 0.75 to 1.25 inches. Covered Group R-3 homes and their applicable accessory buildings need a handrail on at least one side of stairs with four or more risers.

Solar roofs must preserve firefighter pathways

Covered rooftop solar installations, including residential installations, need a 3-foot clear perimeter and firefighter pathways. Paths must cross both roof directions where the roof supports firefighters, with 3-foot paths to required vents and access openings. Covered arrays cannot exceed 150 feet by 150 feet. Array sections need an approved smoke-ventilation option, including specified pathways or remotely operated smoke and heat vents. Gravity-operated dropout vents need a pathway at least 3 feet wide on one side; approved rational analysis can reduce clearances.

Solar roofs need firefighter access pathways

Solar roof access rules extend to Group R-3 and residential-code homes. They include 3-foot perimeter paths, centerline paths, maximum 150-by-150-foot arrays, and at least 6-foot paths between arrays. A fire-code official can approve narrower pathways or access widths when a reasoned analysis supports the reduction.

Builders gain temporary fire road options

Temporary fire roads can use required site-specific structural fill and road base, or approved materials meeting local standards. Officials can require compaction reports, but engineer review and certification are not required. Builders must maintain temporary roads until permanent fire access roads are available. With the required improvement completion assurance posted, local governments cannot demand permanent roads or asphalt or concrete before final structure approval. Temporary roads can also use the statutory alternative when they meet the applicable state and locally adopted road rules.

Fire alarm designers need higher certification

Covered fire alarm designers must hold NICET Level III or IV certification in Fire Alarm Systems. Beginning July 1, 2026, the related statewide certification changes apply. The requirement sets a higher qualification standard for covered design work.

Hazardous areas can restrict fire-starting activities

Municipalities can ban ignition sources, including fireworks, when officials find existing or historical fire hazards. Covered locations include mountainous, brush, forest, dry-grass, and wildland-urban areas, areas within 200 feet of specified waterways or terrain, and limited adjoining boundary areas. In unincorporated areas, the state forester acts after consulting the county fire-code official. Historical hazards must have existed before July 1 in at least two of the previous five years; boundary maps must reach counties before May 1 each closure year. Boundaries must be identifiable and publicly described, and vegetation rules reference the state's minimum county wildland-fire ordinance standards.

Buildings must provide firefighter elevator keys

Covered buildings must keep firefighter-service keys in a Supra-Stor-a-key box or a similar matching key system beside the elevator. The box must hold keys for each elevator, lobby controls, and other emergency service needs. It must open with a numbered 6049 key.

Height-based sprinkler rules for commercial buildings

Specified sprinkler rules cover Group F-1, M, and S-1 fire areas more than three stories above the lowest fire vehicle access level. These are the listed factory, retail, and storage classifications. The supplied text does not describe the rest of the sprinkler requirements.

Indoor fireworks venues must have sprinklers

Group A-2 venues using indoor pyrotechnics must have automatic sprinklers throughout. This also applies to existing venues. Owners face installation requirements, and people inside gain fire protection.

Operators gain fire system service flexibility

Automatic fire extinguishing systems in places used for less than six consecutive months can receive annual service with authority approval. That service must occur immediately before the period of use. Authorities can also approve silencing audible alarm devices during investigation mode.

Repeated false alarms can force replacement

An increase in nuisance fire alarms requires alarm sensitivity testing. If unwarranted alarms continue afterward, the fire code authority must order system replacement. Building operators face testing and replacement costs to address unreliable alarms.

Sprinkler coverage changes for outpatient care

The ambulatory-care sprinkler rule replaces “entire floor” with “building” when describing coverage. It also removes the rule's last paragraph. The supplied text does not describe that paragraph, so the full effect on facility duties is unclear.

State fireworks code amendments are repealed

Beginning July 1, 2026, Utah repeals its specified NFPA amendments for fireworks manufacture, transportation, storage, and retail sales. This removes that section's state-specific rules, not every law governing fireworks. The supplied text does not identify replacement requirements.

Updated fire safety standards for Utah

Utah adopts the 2024 International Fire Code, without appendices and with Utah amendments, replacing the 2021 edition. It also adopts 2024 fuel-gas standards and the 2024 marijuana-facility chapter of NFPA 1. Beginning July 1, 2026, NFPA 13R sprinkler and NFPA 72 alarm standards move from the 2019 to 2022 editions. A high-rise rule changes an adoption condition from “not been adopted” to “been adopted”; the supplied text does not explain its practical effect.

Building owners face fire equipment standards

Fire pump and sprinkler riser rooms must have marked access, permanent lighting, and permanent heating that maintains at least 40°F. Both need at least 12 inches between equipment and permanent construction, plus required working clearance. Pump rooms need a 72-inch passageway and a door opening at least 68 inches wide and 80 inches high. Riser rooms need a 36-inch passageway and a door opening at least 32 inches wide and 80 inches high.

Buildings lose some mandatory safety measures

Fire-code officials can choose whether to require placards under the amended placarding rule. The law also deletes the referenced standpipe requirement for existing buildings. These changes remove mandatory duties under those provisions, not every standpipe or placard rule in the code.

Care homes follow size-based fire rules

Assisted-living sizes are limited at two to five residents, small at six to 16, and large above 16. Limited Type I homes can use Group R-3 or the residential code; limited Type II homes use Group R-4, Condition 2. Small Type I homes use Group R-4, Condition 1; large Type I and small Type II use Group I-1; large Type II use Group I-2. Facilities serving four or fewer people needing custodial care follow the main occupancy, with residential options when inside a dwelling. Non-child-care facilities serving five or fewer people in a single-family home can also use the residential code.

Construction sites must provide early fire access

Construction and demolition sites must provide approved firefighting vehicle access within 100 feet of temporary or permanent fire department connections. Roads must support fire vehicle loads in all weather. Access must work before construction rises above the foundation and before substantial combustible construction materials arrive.

Existing buildings need carbon monoxide detection

Existing residential, education, and specified institutional buildings must have carbon monoxide detection under the fire code. The rule covers occupancy Groups E, I-1, I-2, I-4, and R. Owners face detection-equipment requirements, while occupants gain a safety warning.

Garages need firefighting connections when inaccessible

Open parking garages need an approved Class I manual standpipe when fire vehicles cannot get within 150 feet of every portion. Every part of the garage must be within 150 feet of a hose connection. Garages with automatic sprinklers throughout are exempt.

Homes and buildings need sprinkler alerts

When no fire alarm system is required, covered buildings need audible and visual sprinkler-flow alarms inside and outside. Interior alarms go in normally occupied locations, including each tenant space in multi-tenant buildings; exterior locations need official approval. Covered one- and two-family homes and manufactured homes need an approved exterior audible and visual alarm when an alarm-initiating device is included. Beginning July 1, 2026, covered dwellings with that device need interior fire alerts heard throughout, plus audible alerts when sprinkler flow switches activate. That date also brings interior sprinkler-flow alerts in each covered residential unit or tenant space where no fire alarm is required. Buildings using the NFPA 13R residential sprinkler standard also need approved exterior audible and visual waterflow alarms beginning that date.

Secure care areas need exit-level placement

Secure areas using delayed exit locks in Type V construction must be at the level where occupants exit the building. The location rule also covers the specified secure areas using special exit locks in Groups I-1 and I-2. Covered owners and operators must follow this placement rule.

Sprinkler owners face tagging and valve rules

Sprinklers using antifreeze need a riser tag listing the test date, solution type, concentration by volume, contractor, and license number. The tag must warn that concentration needs yearly testing. Beginning July 1, 2026, connections serving floors over 5,000 square feet need floor or zone control valves at each floor's riser. The fire code authority can approve an alternative valve arrangement.

Existing schools exempt from added radio rule

Existing public and private schools are exempt from the added emergency responder radio coverage requirement for existing buildings. Fire-code officials cannot impose that requirement on these schools under this provision. The exemption avoids that compliance duty but removes the coverage protection required by that provision.

Schools and public buildings need alarms

Group E buildings need manual fire alarms with voice warnings or approved sound and lights, connected to installed sprinklers and smoke detectors. Required smoke detection includes corridors; partially protected or unprotected structures need complete coverage under NFPA 72. Rules also cover Class A circuits, panel labels and location, fan shutdown, duct detectors, and sprinkler water-flow alarms; alternate main-panel locations need State Fire Marshal approval. State and college buildings need approved alarms at an occupant load of 300 or more; school district, private, and charter buildings need them at 50 or more. The public-building rule excludes Group I buildings, and the law deletes listed occupancy-specific alarm provisions for existing buildings.

Schools gain carbon monoxide safety requirements

Group E education buildings need carbon monoxide detectors near fuel-burning equipment, gas appliances, open flames, forges, and potentially contaminated outside air. Buildings with more than 30 occupants must send alarm signals to an onsite location staffed by school personnel. System activation shuts down carbon-monoxide-producing equipment in the affected zone. Levels above 70 parts per million for one hour require audible warnings, a blue warning light in a normally occupied location, and evacuation. Systems need primary and backup power, specified Class A or B wiring, manual alarm reset, and State Fire Marshal Division testing and approval. Annual inspection and tagging require a state-certified Master Fire Alarm Technician; systems can be standalone or part of fire alarms, without required monitoring.

Schools get radio exceptions but testing

Public and private schools generally receive an exception from emergency responder radio coverage requirements for new buildings. Each covered school must still obtain a professional coverage test and submit the results to the fire code official. After construction, the official can require coverage when necessary. Later routine tests can also lead to required professional testing when they reveal possible coverage problems.

Inactive underground tanks require closure notices

Owners of underground tanks out of service for more than one year must receive a Temporary Closure Notice. The notice comes from the Utah Department of Environmental Quality. A copy must also go to the responsible code authority.

Fire system workers need required certifications

Fire sprinkler layouts must be prepared and submitted by designers with Level III or IV certification in Water-Based System Layout. Fire alarm layouts require Level III or IV certification in Fire Alarm Systems. These certifications come from the National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies. Workers inspecting, testing, or maintaining fire alarms must meet Utah Fire Prevention Board certification rules. These standards support qualified work but add professional compliance requirements.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsor

Thomas W. Peterson
Republican • House

Cosponsors

Evan J. Vickers
Republican • Senate

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 198 • No: 4

House vote • 2/9/2026

House/ uncircled

Yes: 0 • No: 0

House vote • 2/9/2026

House/ concurs with Senate amendment

Yes: 68 • No: 1

House vote • 2/6/2026

House/ circled