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

150 amends California Fire Code Section 903 for the city. 3 shall be provided throughout all buildings with a Group R fire area," meaning every new single-family home, duplex, townhouse, apartment building and condominium in Fremont needs fire sprinklers before it can be occupied. 1, which requires an automatic fire sprinkler system "in all Group R-3 occupancies including garages, detached garages, and other attached rooms," installed to NFPA 13D. 2, but that system must extend into garages, carports, bathrooms, concealed spaces, closets, water heater closets, laundry rooms, attic spaces, walkway undersides, overhangs, balconies or decks over four feet deep, and enclosed stair landings.

05 gpm per square foot, capped at two sprinklers for hydraulic calculation purposes; garage doors cannot be treated as obstructions when sprinklers are placed. Detached garages or carports serving accessory dwelling units are exempted from that specific garage rule. 23 once the combined floor area exceeds 5,000 square feet or the addition grows the home by 50% of its original size, calculated cumulatively from July 1, 1999; small additions under 500 square feet (or under 1,000 square feet with an approved hard-wired fire alarm) are exempt as long as no Planning or Building Department variance is needed. All of this sits under the 2025 California Fire Code as locally amended by Ordinance 11-2025, adopted September 16, 2025.