The Fire Protection Rules

Fire protection has a lot of rules, primarily outlined in codes, standards, listings, and manufacturer’s instructions. Here’s how it all works:

Publishers: ICC and NFPA

The primary rule publishers are two safety organizations:

The International Code Council (ICC) is “the largest international association of building safety professionals” and the “leading global source of model codes and standards and building safety solutions.”
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is a nonprofit that calls itself “the leading global advocate for the elimination of death, injury, property, and economic loss due to fire, electrical, and related hazards.”
Both organizations publish model codes and other documents, which we’ll explain next.

Generally, you might say that ICC focuses more on overall building and life safety, including fire protection measures, while NFPA is more specifically concerned with fire protection and life safety systems. However, the organizations’ roles overlap a lot, and NFPA has significantly expanded its original scope beyond fire protection.

Model Codes and Government Codes

A. Codes tell people what they need to do to protect an environment or building, including the construction materials used, how wide exits are, the fire protection systems required, and other elements. There are two types of codes:

ICC and NFPA publish model codes that serve as “models” for the codes that governments issue. These codes are typically updated every three years.
Government codes adopt the model codes, often with a lag, but make some changes, such as removing or adding requirements. Once a government adopts a code, it becomes legally enforceable in that jurisdiction—a law or regulation.

B. Some of the main model codes are:

ICC’s International Building Code (IBC) addresses health and safety in buildings. It is “in use or adopted in 50 states, the District of Columbia, the US Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Marianas Islands.”
ICC’s International Residential Code (IRC) focuses on residential structures and is “in use or adopted in 49 states, the District of Columbia, and the US Virgin Islands.”
ICC’s International Fire Code (IFC) has “regulations to safeguard life and property from fires and explosion hazards.” It is “in use or adopted in 42 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands.”
NFPA 1: Fire Code, adopted and enforceable in 19 states, provides “a comprehensive, integrated approach to fire code regulation and hazard management.” It’s similar to the ICC’s IFC.
NFPA 101: Life Safety Code, adopted by 43 states and “in use” in all of them, is designed to “protect people based on building construction, protection, and occupancy features that minimize the effects of fire and related hazards.”

C. Model codes -> Government codes.

Examples:

The 2024 Virginia Construction Code is based on the 2021 International Building Code.
The 2024 Virginia Residential Code is based on the 2021 International Residential Code.
The US Department of Defense Life Safety Code 2021 is based on the 2021 NFPA 101: Life Safety Code.
The 2022 Connecticut State Fire Safety Code is based on the 2021 editions of NFPA 1: Fire Code and NFPA 101: Life Safety Code.

*The Virginia Construction Code and many other US state codes are based on the International Building Code. Note the ICC logo in the bottom-right corner of its cover.*

Standards

A. While codes tell people what to do, including which fire protection systems to install, standards tell them how to do it.

For example, the International Building Code and the Virginia Construction Code require fire sprinklers to be installed in certain buildings (“occupancy types”). To accomplish that goal, the codes also require people to follow the rules in NFPA standards on installing and maintaining these systems.

B. NFPA is the dominant publisher of fire protection standards, including those that say how to install and maintain systems.

There are hundreds of NFPA standards, covering everything from “Marine Firefighting Vessels” to storing and handling fireworks to “Continuity, Emergency, and Crisis Management.” However, here are some of the most important ones for common fire protection systems:

C. Important installation standards include:

NFPA 13: Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems (It covers installing most non-residential systems)
NFPA 13D: Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems in One- and Two-Family Dwellings and Manufactured Homes
NFPA 13R: Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems in Low-Rise Residential Occupancies
NFPA 14: Standard for the Installation of Standpipe and Hose Systems
NFPA 72: National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code (It’s called a code, but it’s really an installation and inspection, testing, and maintenance standard)

D. Important inspection, testing, and maintenance (ITM) standards include:

NFPA 25: Standard for the Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance of Water-Based Fire Protection Systems
NFPA 72: National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code (It’s called a “code,” but it’s really an installation and inspection, testing, and maintenance standard)

NFPA publishes various model codes, standards, and other documents, including “guides” and “recommended practice” documents. Model codes and standards are the most important—they become the law when governments adopt them.

Other Important Rules: External Standards, Manufacturers’ Instructions, and Listings

The installation and ITM standards often tell users to comply with other rules and specifications that these documents don’t explicitly cover.

A. NFPA standards may require users to follow a manufacturer’s instructions for a specific piece of equipment. Fire protection manufacturers also issue data sheets for most equipment that include instructions and various crucial specs for the device. These documents are vital: when in doubt about a piece of equipment, go look at the data sheet!

B. NFPA standards require many parts within these systems to be “listed.” A listing is a certification, sometimes referred to as an approval, that the equipment has been tested for quality, reliability, and performance. The device must be tested to meet a specific standard for a particular purpose by a reputable testing lab.

C. The two most important fire protection listings and corresponding markings on products are:

UL Listed: UL, formerly Underwriters Laboratories, publishes safety standards for many of the world’s devices, including fire protection equipment. The organization also conducts testing according to their published standards through UL Labs.
FM Approved: FM Global, the other primary testing and certification authority in US fire protection, is an insurance provider. FM Global “specializes in loss prevention services primarily to large corporations,” and it partially accomplishes this goal by setting standards and testing equipment.

D. However, there are other “listings” and “certifications,” many of which have more importance internationally or for specific parts. Examples include:

CE: the European Union
LCPB: the Loss Prevention Certification Board mark
VdS: a major test lab in Germany
UKCA: the UK Conformity Assessed marking for sale in the United Kingdom
MED: the Maritime Equipment Directive mark, indicting suitability for maritime use
EAC: Eurasian Conformity Mark: a mark for acceptability in the Eurasian Customs Union
CCC: the China Compulsory Certificate mark for import and sale in China

*UL Listed and FM Approved are the two most common and important marks seen on “certified” fire protection equipment.*

The Fire Protection System Installation and ITM Process

Here’s how people figure out what fire protection systems they need to install and when and how they need to maintain them:

System Installation Steps

Someone builds or buys a building.
Mainly based on its intended use (occupancy type) and contents (hazard level), a locally enforceable government code says the structure needs a system or systems—for example, a fire sprinkler system.
The code specifies that the system must be installed following the rules in a standard. For fire sprinkler systems, that’s often NFPA 13: Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems.
A professional system designer follows NFPA 13’s rules and submits design plans to the local building department for approval.
Upon official approval, a professional installer puts in the sprinkler system and “acceptance tests” it. The fire sprinkler system is put into service once it passes these tests and is approved.

Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance (ITM)

There are three overall steps for the “upkeep” of various systems. Different standards cover different systems and sometimes multiple systems.

For example, the ITM steps for fire sprinklers, standpipes, and a few other systems are outlined in NFPA 25: Standard for the Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance of Water-Based Fire Protection Systems.
Here’s what each word behind “ITM” means:

Visual inspections of parts at specified intervals make sure they are undamaged, not corroded, generally working, and free from other defects. For example, fire sprinkler heads must be inspected from the floor level annually to look for dust, corrosion, leaks, and other issues.
Parts and even entire systems must be tested at additional intervals to ensure they will work in an emergency. For example, a sprinkler system’s mechanical waterflow alarm must be tested quarterly to make sure it sounds when water flows.

*This ITM pro is pumping pressurized water into this fire sprinkler system to conduct a 5-year hydrostatic test of the pipe, ensuring nothing leaks.*

Maintenance refers to general maintenance tasks, such as how to replace sprinklers that need to be replaced or always keeping spare sprinklers onsite in a designated cabinet.

The rules are long, complex, and vary by system type and standard. However, the table below shows a basic overview of the potential ITM tasks for a fire sprinkler system. It gives you an idea of how complicated this can be:

00 Fire Protection and Life Safety Overview