Cecil County, MD Building Safety: Fire Sprinkler Requirements (2026)

2 entirely. 1. The mandate exempts additions or alterations to an existing building that was never equipped with a sprinkler system, so the rule targets new construction rather than remodeling older houses. C makes clear that mandatory sprinklers may also be required for new single- and two-family dwellings, additions or renovations built within the boundaries of any of Cecil County's eight incorporated towns, and if a town has its own sprinkler ordinance, the town's rule controls there instead of the county's. D carves out an exemption for manufactured housing built to Federal Housing Administration or HUD Code standards and placed in the unincorporated county, unless HUD or the FHA itself requires sprinklers.

2 adds two further exceptions: a property with no connection to an electrical utility, and, until January 1, 2016, permits issued for homes on a lot covered by a valid public works agreement executed before March 1, 2011, or served by a qualifying existing water line installed before that date. C ties the mandate to the location of construction, a homeowner building a new single-family house on unincorporated county land falls under the general county rule requiring NFPA 13D sprinklers, subject only to the utility-connection and manufactured-housing exceptions still in force.