HB 683: Buildings and housing; residential fire sprinkler requirements; provisions

Current Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 8-2-4) blocks both the state residential and fire building code and any local fire and building code adopted after May 24, 2010 from requiring fire sprinklers in single-family homes or buildings with no more than two dwelling units. House Bill 683 would rewrite that section so the ban on sprinkler mandates applies only to the state code. Local governments would be allowed to adopt their own fire ordinances requiring sprinklers in one- and two-family dwellings. The bill keeps the May 24, 2010 reference date for the state-level rule but removes the matching restriction that had applied to local political subdivisions. It repeals any conflicting laws and does not list a separate effective date beyond the general rules for when Georgia acts take effect.

• Keeps the existing ban on the state residential and fire building code requiring fire sprinklers in single-family homes or buildings with two or fewer dwelling units.
• Removes the prior ban on local governments requiring fire sprinklers in those same buildings.
• Explicitly allows any political subdivision of Georgia to adopt a local fire sprinkler ordinance covering one- and two-family dwellings.
• Repeals any existing state or local laws that conflict with this new arrangement.

City and county governments that write local fire and building codes, home builders and developers constructing new one- and two-family homes, and homeowners who could face new local sprinkler requirements depending on where they live in Georgia.

If enacted, local governments across Georgia could start requiring fire sprinklers in new one- and two-family homes even though the state code still cannot mandate them, which could mean added construction costs in some communities but not others, depending on local rules.

• Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 8-2-4 to keep the state code's ban on requiring residential fire sprinklers in buildings with two or fewer dwelling units, dated from May 24, 2010.
• Section 1 removes the earlier language that also barred political subdivisions from requiring sprinklers, replacing it with language that lets local fire and building codes adopt sprinkler ordinances for one- and two-family dwellings.
• Section 2 repeals any laws or parts of laws that conflict with the new version of the statute.

1. 2025-03-04House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-03-03House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-02-28House Hopper (House)

• Joseph Gullett (R, HD-19)Primary sponsor

• fire sprinklers
• building codes
• local government authority
• housing construction