Lacey, WA Building Safety: Fire Sprinkler Requirements (2026)

Lacey Municipal Code § 14.07.015 amends Section 903.2 of the International Fire Code, 2021 Edition, as adopted in the City of Lacey by § 14.07.010. The base rule is that approved automatic sprinkler systems in new buildings and structures must be provided in the locations described in the section. Lacey then layers on its own trigger: standard automatic sprinkler systems are installed throughout all buildings thirty-five or more feet in height, or seven thousand five hundred (7,500) or more square feet in gross floor area. The trigger is written by height and floor area, and the sentence does not name an occupancy type.

The floor area trigger has one printed workaround: one four-hour fire resistive fire wall without openings, as defined in Section B104.2 of Appendix B, can be used to maintain the maximum gross floor area. The only exception printed in the section covers spaces or areas in telecommunications buildings used exclusively for telecommunications equipment, electrical power distribution equipment, batteries and standby engines, which need an automatic fire alarm system and a separation by a wall rated not less than 1 hour and a floor/ceiling assembly rated not less than 2 hours.

Other Lacey amendments follow the sprinkler system through design and operation. Section 105.4.1 requires four sets of construction documents for automatic sprinkler systems, and companies installing fire protection systems in the City of Lacey need a city of Lacey business license. Section 903.3.7 puts a fire department connection within 40 feet of a fire hydrant. Under Section 903.4, valves and water-flow switches must be electrically supervised, but sprinkler systems protecting one and two-family dwellings are excepted, as are limited area systems serving fewer than twenty sprinklers. Section 507.5.1 sets a 600 foot hydrant distance instead of 400 feet for buildings equipped throughout with an approved sprinkler system.

The Lacey Fire Marshal Office, under the fire code official, administers the code, and Lacey Fire District No. 3 serves as the fire department by contract.