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In September 2008, the International Code Council (ICC) held its annual business meeting and code change hearings in Minneapolis, MN. Voting members of the ICC are comprised of government or municipality representatives engaged in the administration, formulation or enforcement of laws, regulations or ordinances relating to public health, safety and welfare. The meeting was to finalize the changes for the 2009 International Code. The International Residential Code (IRC) makes up a part of the International Building Code which is the adopted residential building code for South Carolina.
One of the changes to the IRC is a mandate of residential fire sprinklers for all residential buildings, and will become effective January 1, 2011. The change was approved by a 73% majority of the officials voting, and only required a two-thirds majority to pass. "Countless lives will be saved as a result of these historic code changes," said John Viniello, president of the Naional Fire Sprinkler Association.
To meet the new code, residential fire sprinklers must be designed and installed in accordance with one of the following:
1. National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 13D: "Standard for the Installation of Sprinklers Systems in One- and
Two-family Dwellings." This Standard has been in use since 1975 and has been proven over the years, saving many lives.
2. A new protocol was added to the 2009 edition of the IRC under Plumbing Section P2904. This is a "cookbook" method for
sizing and installing residential sprinkler systems, which uses rule-of-thumb tables and methods.
Home Fire Protection, LLC uses NFPA Standard 13D exclusively for the design, fabrication and installation of residential sprinkler systems. A fire sprinkler system is first and foremost for "life-safety", and Home Fire Protection treats it as such. Click on "About Us" to see the procedure we follow to design and install your system.
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