Clovis, CA Building Safety: Fire Sprinkler Requirements (2026)

The City's 2025 Fire Code amendments, adopted under Municipal Code Section 4.4.101 and modified at Section 4.4.102(n), rewrite CFC Section 903.2 to require an automatic sprinkler system, installed to Section 903.3 standards, throughout all buildings with a Group R fire area, the classification covering single-family dwellings, duplexes, apartments, condominiums, hotels and residential care facilities. Unlike the commercial-use thresholds elsewhere in Section 903.2 that exempt buildings under 2,500 square feet, Section 903.2.8 carries no minimum-area trigger for residential occupancies: a Group R building of any size must be sprinklered.

The amendment lists five narrow exceptions: existing Group R-3 occupancies converted to R-3.1 housing that does not shelter bedridden or non-ambulatory clients above the first or second floor; converted R-3.1 occupancies housing a single bedridden client under Building Code Section 435.8.3.3; occupancies housing only ambulatory children under Health and Safety Code Section 13113; occupancies licensed for protective social care housing only ambulatory, non-elderly adults under Health and Safety Code Section 13143.6; and accessory dwelling units defined under Government Code Section 65852.2 with 1,200 square feet or less of enclosed floor area, counting living space, storage rooms and shop areas together.

Every other new Group R building in Clovis, including a standard single-family house built as new construction, falls under the mandate. The requirement sits inside the same Fire Code chapter that makes any violation a misdemeanor and lets the fire code official pursue administrative citations, court citations, or a request that the City Attorney file suit under Section 4.4.102(f).