Norfolk, VA Building Safety: Fire Sprinkler Requirements (2026)

1-44(30) amends the Virginia Statewide Fire Prevention Code to require a mechanical fire suppression system, defined as equipment that detects a fire, activates an alarm and suppresses the fire, in any building fifty feet or more in height. Height is measured from grade to the top of the highest roof beams on a flat roof, or to the mean level of the highest gable on a sloped roof; if the building fronts more than one street, the fire official averages the grade at the center of each street frontage before comparing it to the threshold.

The requirement supplements, rather than replaces, any other law or code governing sprinkler installation, and it binds only buildings for which a building permit issued on or after the ordinance's May 23, 2000 adoption date. Systems must be installed per the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code and NFPA #13, the sprinkler installation standard. Open parking garages meeting Section 406 of the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code are exempt, though retail or office space located inside such a garage must still be sprinklered. 1-44(19) requires standpipe systems in buildings over seventy-five feet to be flow tested every two years.

1, Article IV, may inspect any building to confirm compliance and, for a dwelling unit, must obtain the occupant's consent or an inspection warrant under Va. 2 before entering.