State fire marshal urges updating Kansas fire code from 2006 standard; seeks streamlined adoption process
Summary
The State Fire Marshal told the committee Kansas relies on an outdated 2006-based fire-prevention code for most of the state and urged a mechanism to adopt newer national code versions more frequently and with fewer administrative barriers, while maintaining local enforcement for life-safety issues.
Richard Watson, chief deputy/chief of prevention at the State Fire Marshal's Office, told the committee that Kansas currently uses a fire-prevention code based largely on 2006-era national standards for about 95% of the state. He said national consensus standards have been repeatedly updated (most recently in the mid-2020s) and that newer editions incorporate construction materials, technology and performance-based options that can improve safety and offer alternative, less-costly compliance methods.
Watson said the State Fire Marshal's Office has multiple pending updates but that the current rules-and-regulations process is cumbersome for adopting code books that can exceed 1,500 pages. He recommended considering a statutory approach similar to Florida's, in which the state designates a baseline national code edition and then uses a regular update timetable (for example, every three years) tied to stakeholder review to keep the state code current.
Officials from the fire marshal's office said that adopting a modern code can actually reduce costs and administrative friction in some projects by allowing performance-based alternatives; they also noted that the legislature could preserve explicit exemptions (for example, not mandating sprinklers in single-family homes) while allowing code modernization for other uses.
Ending: The committee asked the fire marshal's office to return with a crosswalk showing differences between the 2006-based code and the 2024 edition so legislators could consider options for an updated and more streamlined adoption process.
