St. Clair County, IL Building Safety: Fire Sprinkler Requirements (2026)

Sec. 7-2-72(C), part of the county's amendments to the adopted 2012 International Residential Code, addresses fire sprinklers as a disclosure duty rather than a construction mandate. A builder of a one- or two-family dwelling being built for a specific purchaser must offer that purchaser, at the time the construction or purchase contract is signed, the option to install or equip fire sprinklers in the home, at the purchaser's own cost. The purchaser cannot be denied the right to choose or decline the sprinkler system; the decision is theirs to make.

The builder must then produce written verification confirming the offer was actually made at contract signing, and that verification has to be included with the building permit application before the county will process it. ), applying the stricter standard where the two conflict. Sec. 7-2-72 also bars wood footings and foundations outright and separately adopts IRC Appendix G (pools, spas, hot tubs) and Appendix H (patio covers) into the local code, showing the same amendment section is used to both loosen and tighten specific construction requirements rather than impose a blanket sprinkler mandate.