Lawrence, KS Building Safety: Fire Sprinkler Requirements (2026)

2 of the 2018 International Residential Code, which in its unamended form makes residential sprinklers mandatory in new one- and two-family dwellings. 2 reads that an automatic residential fire sprinkler system "may be installed" in one- and two-family dwellings, a permissive word choice that removes the mandate rather than imposing one. The amendment carries its own exception, aimed at existing housing stock: an automatic residential fire sprinkler system is not required for additions or alterations to existing buildings that were not already built with one.

That means a homeowner adding a room or remodeling an older Lawrence house never has to retrofit sprinklers as a condition of the permit, and building a new single-family or duplex home in the city does not require them either. The amendment sits within article VI of chapter 5 alongside other IRC amendments adopted the same way, including § 5-608's basement egress rule and § 5-610's retaining wall standard, all folded into the residential code adopted at § 5-601 and § 5-602, whose official marked copy is kept on file with the city clerk for public inspection.