Little Rock, AR Building Safety: Fire Sprinkler Requirements (2026)

Sec. 12-70 requires the owner of a property with an automatic fire sprinkler system, commercial kitchen hood system, or fire alarm system to keep it maintained, tested and inspected at the intervals set by the fire code and referenced standards. Only qualified personnel may perform that work: technicians factory-trained and certified for that brand of equipment, inspectors holding a nationally recognized certification the city approves, personnel registered, licensed or certified by Arkansas or the city, or fire department staff themselves. Every installation, inspection, test and maintenance record must be filed electronically to the city's designated reporting system no later than fifteen days after the work is done, and the filing fee is capped at fifteen dollars for each type of fire protection system reported.

Records have to stay on the premises for at least three years and be made available to the fire department and its contractors on request. If a sprinkler system fails its inspection or operational test, the owner has thirty days to make all necessary repairs using manufacturer-approved parts, or replace the system entirely if repair isn't possible, and again must file a completed record within fifteen days of finishing that work. The fire code official can require additional inspection and testing of anything repaired or replaced.

Sec. 12-69 ties enforcement of this whole article, including Sec. 12-70, to the general penalty in Sec. 1-9. Separately, new sprinkler installation and replacement permits are billed under Sec. 8-31(c)(1)o at forty-three cents per square foot up to five thousand square feet, then two hundred six dollars plus twenty-two cents per additional square foot, with a fifty-five-dollar minimum permit fee.