Coppell staff brief council on adopting 2024 International Building and Fire Codes; highlights: firefighter radio systems and EV charger rules

City building and fire officials told Coppell City Council during the April 8 meeting that the city should adopt the 2024 editions of the International Building Code and International Fire Code with local amendments.

Chief Building Official Steve Stewart and Fire Chief Oates (presenter name recorded as Chief Oates) explained that Coppell currently enforces the 2015 International Code series and that the code cycle advances every three years; many peer cities are moving to the 2021 or 2024 cycles. Officials said adopting the 2024 codes aligns Coppell with current safety guidance developed by engineers, architects and the National Fire Protection Association and can affect the city’s ISO insurance rating because code adoption and enforcement are audited.

Two code changes the fire department highlighted as especially relevant are emergency responder radio amplification systems and electric vehicle (EV) charging station provisions. The emergency responder communications system is an in‑building antenna/repeater assembly intended to preserve first‑responder radio coverage in buildings; staff said topography in Coppell generally produces good coverage but that some building materials (for example, low‑e windows and concrete walls) can create coverage failures that would trigger a requirement for the radio system. Fire staff said they generally require built‑in pathways so that owners can add the system post‑construction if testing shows it is needed.

On EV charging, officials said the 2024 model code still lacks detailed fire‑department requirements, so the city proposes a Council of Governments (COG)‑recommended amendment that adds a fire‑department‑accessible power disconnect box to charging installations. That box would let firefighters cut power to charging stations in an emergency. The amendment also sets placement rules for chargers in parking garages (first floor or top level, near stairs/elevators and within 50 feet of a fire lane in some cases).

Residential EV chargers remain governed largely by manufacturer installation instructions; staff said the city issues permits for residential installations and estimates roughly 25–30 residential EV charger permits per year, with fewer than 100 total permanent residential chargers in the city based on available records.

Officials said the new code will include other changes such as energy‑code plumbing insulation requirements that may increase costs for contractors and homeowners in the near term but that such changes become standardized across the jurisdictional market. Staff asked council for feedback and offered to return with formal code‑adoption ordinances and specific amendment language.

Ending: The code officials closed by offering to provide more information and to carry forward formal adoption language; no final adoption vote occurred at the April 8 meeting.