Iowa fire code

Buildings the state inspects

The Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing sends inspectors to schools, jails and prisons, child care centers, homes and programs that care for residents, assisted living providers, and group living settings. They also inspect health care places held to federal standards, such as hospitals, dialysis centers, intermediate care facilities, nursing homes and outpatient surgery centers, as the state lists.

The state does not inspect one- or two-family homes for fire code compliance.

Is an inspection required before you open?

Yes, when a state-regulated building is new, remodeled, or shifting to a different use. A new, remodeled, or newly repurposed state-regulated building must have an occupancy inspection before it is occupied. It must take place before anyone moves in, and it costs $150, according to the state.

The rules behind the code

You can find Iowa's fire control administration rules in Iowa Administrative Code 481 Chapter 280, while the state building code sits in Chapter 301. The State Fire Marshal writes these rules under Iowa Code section 100.1(5).

Before today's edition, the State Fire Marshal put the 2015 International Fire Code in place on February 4, 2016. That update became enforceable on May 18 of that year, according to the published rule notice.

Could your city follow a different fire code?

It's possible. When a city or county has its own fire ordinance, that ordinance can count as meeting state fire marshal rules if it adopts some version of the International Fire Code, the NFPA 1 standard, or the older 1997 Uniform Fire Code, under the state rules. So the edition in your town might differ from the one used in state inspections.

Sprinklers and smoke alarms

Every building with a Group R fire area in Iowa must have sprinklers throughout, with a narrow exception for cabins. Group R is what the code calls places where people sleep, like apartments, hotels, and dormitories.

Any single-station smoke alarm installed since April 1, 2010 must be a dual sensor alarm, the state rules say.

Certain new construction plans require fire marshal approval and go to the building code bureau. Fire alarm and sprinkler shop drawings must carry the signature of a licensed responsible managing employee under Iowa Code chapter 100C. That person is the licensed individual at a fire protection company who answers for the company's design work.

Missing a signature or sprinklers can hold up your project. Call us to check your plans early so you don't lose time.

Fire extinguisher servicing

Fire extinguishers in Iowa must be serviced at intervals of no more than 1 year. The state dropped the certification rule for people who service portable extinguishers, though training and service manuals are still needed, according to the rule notice.

The state doesn't regulate portable extinguisher inspection or testing, but your city or county may, the licensing office notes.

Fire protection contractor licensing

In Iowa, companies and their employees need a license to install or test fire extinguishing systems. Hood cleaning by itself doesn't call for a fire protection license. Contractors also must register with the state as construction contractors under Iowa Code chapter 91C, unless they have a written exemption, according to the state.

Sprinkler work in Iowa has to be designed and overseen by someone with serious, state-recognized qualifications, so it pays to hire a licensed company that handles all of that for you.

Contractors show proof of liability insurance on an ACORD form, with at least these amounts:

Opening a building soon? Call us today to get your plans, sprinklers and alarms ready so your $150 occupancy inspection goes smoothly.