Florence County, SC Building Safety: Fire Sprinkler Requirements (2026)

Sec. 21-149 governs the minimum conditions and standards for fire safety in structures, including fire safety facilities and equipment to be provided. It requires that all systems, devices and equipment to detect fire or smoke, sound an alarm, or suppress or control a fire be maintained in an operable condition matching the fire code in effect at the time of construction, and it places that maintenance duty squarely on the owner, who may not occupy or let another occupy premises that don't comply. The same section requires a safe, continuous, unobstructed means of egress to the public way, with aisle widths meeting the code in effect at construction and kept clear.

Egress doors must be openable from the inside without keys, special knowledge, or effort, except where hardware conforms to the International Building Code, and required emergency escape openings must be operable from inside without keys or tools; bars or grilles over such openings are allowed only if releasable from inside without a key, tool, or extra force. Fire-resistance-rated assemblies, firestops, and shaft enclosures must be kept at their required rating, and fire and smoke barrier doors may not be blocked, obstructed, or otherwise made inoperable. This provision sits in the Unsafe Structure Abatement Code adopted by Ord. No. 13-2009/10 and applies to residential and nonresidential structures alike.