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Fire Commission approves 2025 fire code, affirms sprinkler retrofit timetable amid resident protests
Summary
After more than 30 minutes of public comment from owners and residents of older high‑rise buildings raising cost and displacement concerns, the San Francisco Fire Commission voted to approve the 2025 San Francisco Fire Code and recommend it to the Board of Supervisors, keeping a phased sprinkler compliance schedule that largely follows state and international codes with a stated completion target of 2035.
The San Francisco Fire Commission voted Nov. 12 to approve the department’s proposed 2025 San Francisco Fire Code and forward it to the Board of Supervisors, maintaining a phased timetable for retrofitting sprinklers in certain existing high‑rise buildings while emphasizing the fire marshal’s ability to grant exemptions, alternate methods and time extensions.
Dozens of residents and building representatives urged the commission to modify or delay enforcement of a sprinkler retrofitting requirement they said was adopted without adequate notice and would impose severe financial hardship. "Should this mandate go into force, this would require many buildings to install sprinklers in each individual unit," said Tom Gage, a resident and board member of a 58‑unit Chestnut Street building, who described potential costs he estimated at more than $2 million for his building and warned that elderly and medically dependent residents might be displaced.
Advocates for the requirement and union representatives framed the rule as a life‑saving measure. "What is a life worth?" asked Dan Torres of Sprinkler Fitters Local 483, urging the commission to keep the code in place and stressing that properly installed automatic sprinklers suppress fires and reduce fatalities.
Fire Marshal Chad Law and senior fire protection engineer Sagiv YC Shai said the ordinance aligns San Francisco with the California and International Fire Codes, and explained the local process and timeline. The department reported 75 buildings have submitted compliance schedules and about 53 have not; the code cycle applied here gives covered buildings a 12‑year compliance window, moved in this draft to conclude in 2035. Law highlighted language in the local code that authorizes the fire marshal to approve alternate methods, waive certain requirements where compliance is physically impossible or would impose disproportionate hardship, and grant compliance extensions on showing of good cause. "The fire marshal may approve modifications and alternate methods when it is clear a reasonable degree of fire safety is provided," Law said during the presentation.
Commissioners pressed department staff and legal counsel on public notice and the department’s process for addressing hardship cases. Deputy City Attorney Sarah Fabian said the item met Brown Act and Sunshine Ordinance posting requirements and that the commission may defer or take action; the Board of Supervisors will consider the ordinance and any local findings before final adoption and submission to the state Building Standards Commission.
Several building representatives offered cost estimates that ranged widely: one building estimated $15–$20 million to comply (about $300,000 per apartment), and several speakers cited citywide impacts on 126 buildings and an affected population they estimated at "10,000 to 15,000 residents," with some commentaries estimating total program costs in the billions. The department and engineer disputed some public assumptions about who is covered and noted exemptions for certain high‑rise stock that already meets life‑safety benchmarks (for example, buildings with two enclosed stairs and other listed protections may be exempt from sprinkler retrofitting).
After extended discussion, the commission voted to approve the 2025 San Francisco Fire Code as presented and forward its recommendation to the Board of Supervisors. Commissioners recorded their votes in open session and the motion passed. The commission’s approval does not itself change compliance deadlines; the code and any local findings will move through the Board of Supervisors, which may receive additional public comment and consider amendments.
What’s next: The fire code ordinance is expected to be introduced to the Board of Supervisors and then go through the city’s committee and hearing process; the department said it will accept engineering reports and hardship documentation as buildings request alternate methods or time extensions.
