CHAPTER 6
ALTERATIONS - LEVEL 2
SECTION 604.2.2
IEBC Interpretation No. 12-04
2003 Edition
Issued: 04-07-05
604.2.2 Groups A, E, F-1, H, I, M, R-1, R-2, R-4, S-1, and S-2. In buildings with occupancies in Groups A, E, F-1, H, I, M, R-1,
R-2, R-4, S-1, and S-2, work areas that include exits or corridors shared by more than one tenant or that serve an occupant load greater
than 30 shall be provided with automatic sprinkler protection where all of the following conditions occur:
1. The work area is required to be provided with automatic sprinkler protection in accordance with the International Building
Code as applicable to new construction;
2. The work area exceeds 50 percent of the floor area; and
3. The building has sufficient municipal water supply for design of a fire sprinkler system available to the floor without
installation of a new fire pump.
Exception: Work areas in Group R occupancies three stories or less in height.
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GIVEN: Assume Level 2 alterations to an existing building that is not classified as a high-rise building. The building is
not a Group R occupancy. All the listed conditions, including Items 1 and 2, are applicable. The municipal water supply
for the building is sufficient for design of a fire sprinkler system to the floor containing the work area, without requiring theinstallation of a new fire pump.
Q1: Is a fire sprinkler system required to be provided to the work area if a new water service pipe is required to be
installed between the municipal water supply and the building?
A1: No. Section 604.2.2, condition 3 indicates that “the building has sufficient...”. Therefore it was not intended that new
water service pipes be installed from the water main to the building.
Q2: Is a fire sprinkler system required to be provided to the work area if a new water distribution pipe (or riser) is required
to be installed between the water service pipe and the work area?
A2: No. Sprinkler system will not be required if a new riser must be constructed to bring water from lower floors.
STAFF COMMENTARY: For both of these answers, please note that the language in Section 604.2.2 is distinctly different
from that found in Section 704.1.1 (Level 3 Alterations, high-rise buildings), where sprinklers will be required if the
municipal water main at the site has sufficient municipal water supply.
One of the main resource documents upon which the IEBC was based is the Nationally Applicable Recommended
Rehabilitation Provisions (NARRP). The origin of many of the IEBC Sections can be traced to similar provisions in the
NARRP. The NARRP does not require sprinkler systems in work areas for the level of construction called “Alterations”
(this is approximately the same level as IEBC Level 2 Alterations and is found in NARRP Chapter 5). Section 606.1 of
NARRP for the level called “Reconstruction” (approximately similar to Level 3 Alterations of IEBC), requires sprinkler
system, but provides an exception if “...an automatic water supply for sprinkler protection is not available at that floor, the
building official shall be perm itted to accept alternative protection”. A review of this history indicates the intent of the IEBC
drafting committee to require sprinkler system in Level 2 Alterations only if sufficient municipal water supply is available
at the floor under discussion.
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Chapter 6 Level 2 alterations in the 2003 edition where moved to Chapter 7 in the 2006 edition. The opinion shuld be the same for all code editions with the same language.
....We are giving away the store on commercial sprinklers and jamming them down homeowners throats....Off soapbox....