Spring Hill's Board of Mayor and Aldermen considered a fire sprinkler ordinance at a special meeting Monday, Sept. 21. Ordinance 26-13 reaffirms mandatory sprinkler requirements for multi-family residential buildings and commercial structures 10,000 square feet or larger.

The board scheduled the meeting to satisfy a state law requiring sprinkler rules more stringent than state standards be voted on separately from other building code items. The issue arose because Spring Hill's 2023 and 2024 fire code updates bundled sprinkler provisions with other construction standards, which did not meet the separate-vote requirement under Tennessee Code Annotated § 68-120-101.

Fire Chief Graig Temple, Assistant City Administrator Chris Clausi and Interim Development Services Director Vernon Gerth outlined the problem in a Sept. 8 staff memorandum to the board. The three officials wrote that the city has supported fire sprinkler installation in multi-family structures since 2003 to protect public health and safety. They said the ordinance gives the Fire Marshal's Division greater flexibility to ensure proper systems are installed in structures from duplexes on up.

Mayor Matt Fitterer and eight aldermen were listed on the meeting packet.

Under the ordinance, sprinklers are required in all new or remodeled attached multi-family residential structures, built to NFPA 13R standards. That includes structures with a zero-foot building setback line. Commercial buildings at or above 10,000 gross square feet must also have sprinkler systems.

Existing buildings trigger the requirement when a remodel exceeds 50% of the building's replacement cost or alters more than half its square footage. If a commercial addition brings a building's total area to 10,000 square feet or more, the entire structure must meet new-building sprinkler standards unless the addition is separated by a four-hour fire wall.

The ordinance was first introduced at the Aug. 17 regular BOMA meeting. State law requires two readings at specially called meetings held at least two weeks apart, with a two-thirds vote on final reading. No cost to the city was identified in the staff memorandum.

The date for the second reading has not been announced.