Sherman, TX Building Safety: Childcare Center Rules (2026)

Sherman adopts the 2021 International Fire Code in § 3.04.001(a) and rewrites Section 907.2.3 for Group E occupancies, the group that includes day care. A manual fire alarm system that activates the occupant notification system under Section 907.6 must be installed. Where automatic sprinkler systems or smoke detectors are installed, they must connect to the building fire alarm system, and an approved smoke detection system shall be installed in group E day care occupancies. Portable buildings count too: unless separated by a minimum of 100 feet of open space, all buildings, whether portable or the main building, are considered one building for alarm occupant load and interconnection of alarm systems.

Exception (A) covers Group E occupancies with an occupant load of less than 50 when provided with an approved automatic sprinkler system. Exception (B) covers residential in-home day care with not more than 12 children, which can use interconnected single station detectors in all habitable rooms, with a cross reference to Section 907.2.6 for more than five children 2½ or less years of age. Exception (C) drops manual fire alarm boxes where six conditions all apply, including smoke detectors with alarm verification in interior corridors, off-premises monitoring, and the ability to activate the evacuation signal from a central point.

Zoning adds separate duties. Section 14.08.001 defines a daycare as a place where more than four unrelated children are left for care between 7:00 a.m. and 12:00 a.m. outside the child's own dwelling unit, and § 10.03.004 requires every daycare development or specific use permit request to include a traffic circulation study approved by the city engineer.