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

Chapter 300 of the Milpitas Municipal Code adopts the 2025 California Fire Code and locally amends Section 903.2, Where Required. For buildings other than those residential structures that already must install sprinklers in all new construction under the California Residential Code, an automatic fire sprinkler system is required throughout all new buildings and structures greater than 1,000 square feet of building area, with a narrow exception for noncombustible, open-sided parking structures under 5,000 square feet set back at least 10 feet from other buildings. For existing Group R occupancies specifically, sprinklers must be added when an addition increases the building area past 3,600 square feet, or when the Building Department determines the home must comply with current California Building Codes because of an extensive remodel or renovation.

The same 3,600-square-foot addition trigger applies to existing Group A, B, E, F, L, M, S, and U buildings. A change in occupancy or use of a building of 3,600 square feet or more that the fire code official or building official finds increases life-safety risk (larger occupant loads, assembly uses, complex exiting, non-ambulatory care facilities) or fire risk (high-piled storage, woodworking, hazardous materials, welding, flammable-liquid automotive repair) also triggers the sprinkler requirement. Where the sprinkler design has no confirmed tenant, Section 903.3.1.1 requires the system be designed to at least Ordinary Hazard Group 2 density, and a single sprinkler-head design is not permitted under Section 903.3.1.4.

Riser placement, water supply, and hydraulic margin are separately regulated: risers cannot sit in electrical rooms or storage closets, buildings over 200,000 square feet may need more than one water supply, and hydraulic design must carry a 10 percent safety margin at a maximum 20 feet-per-second flow velocity.