Waukesha, WI Building Safety: Fire Sprinkler Requirements (2026)

07 was written because, as the section itself states, automatic fire sprinkler systems are one of the most effective means of protecting life and property from fire; it sets rules for contractors and property owners installing and maintaining sprinkler systems in both new and existing buildings. 6. 0903. The same section separately sprinklers new factories, offices, mercantile buildings, warehouses and similar uses of 6,000 square feet or more, or three or more interior stories, and any high-hazard occupancy the Fire Chief designates. Existing public buildings must retrofit sprinklers if more than 50 percent of cumulative square footage is remodeled after the City's original 1996 sprinkler ordinance, or when an addition is made to a building that already has a system.

Before any sprinkler installation begins, four copies of plans go to the Fire Prevention Bureau for review and conditional approval; work started before that conditional approval must stop immediately. No system receives final approval until an acceptance test is performed before the Fire Chief or a designee, with at least 48 hours' advance notice, and the building cannot be occupied before the test passes. Plan review fees run from $140 for a hydraulic calculation check alone up to $220 for a full plan review with hydraulic calculations.