New single-family homes, duplexes and townhouses built in Dover will need fire sprinkler systems. City Council gave final approval on Oct. 12 to an ordinance adopting the 2024 International Residential Code, sprinkler requirement included, according to WBOC. Councilman Brian Lewis cast the lone vote against it.
The measure is Ordinance 2025-19, which rewrites Chapter 22 of the city code to bring in the 2024 family of International Code Council codes: building, residential, existing building, swimming pool and spa, property maintenance and fire. Energy, mechanical, fuel gas and plumbing work stays under Delaware's statewide codes. City records show it was introduced in committee on Aug. 11, came up for first reading in September and was scheduled for final reading on Oct. 12.
The ordinance text says the sprinkler section applies to newly constructed dwellings and townhouses. Existing homes don't have to be retrofitted just because Dover adopted the new code. The text also says it doesn't waive a sprinkler requirement that's triggered on its own by an addition, alteration, change of occupancy or another law. WBOC reported that the city amended the rules for certain additions and renovations to existing homes.
There is a transition window for work already on the boards. Under the ordinance, an owner can ask to be reviewed under the previous codes if a registered design professional was hired under a written contract before the effective date and did design work on the project in the six months before that date. The building official can ask for contracts, drawings or invoices as proof. Permits issued before the new code took effect stay under the old rules while they remain valid. The ordinance takes effect on adoption.
Mayor Robin Christiansen could have sent the measure back with a veto, but WBOC reported he doesn't plan to. "I cannot in good conscience veto this action of Council," he said in a statement to the council president.
How much the sprinklers will add depends on who you ask. Fire Marshal Jason Osika put the cost at roughly $2 to $2.50 per square foot, which works out to about $4,000 to $5,000 on a 2,000-square-foot house. NeighborGood Partners, a nonprofit that has built 78 homes in downtown Dover since 2017 through its Restoring Central Dover program, estimates $8,000 to $10,000 per home. Jill Lordan of NeighborGood told WBOC the group aims to keep its homes under $250,000 for families earning up to 100 percent of area median income.
Osika argued that sprinklers buy occupants time to get out and protect firefighters, since fire spreads faster in modern construction. The Home Builders Association of Delaware asked the mayor for a veto, or for the city to adopt the 2024 code without the sprinkler mandate. The group pointed to Maryland, which required residential sprinklers in 2012, and said home fire deaths there haven't dropped much since.
Dover's rule goes further than state law. Delaware code requires builders of new one- and two-family homes to give buyers State Fire Marshal materials on sprinkler benefits and written information on installation and upkeep costs, and to install a system at the buyer's expense if asked. It doesn't require one. Dover isn't the first Delaware town to go further, either. DelawareLive reported in 2023 that Newark, Lewes and Milton already required sprinklers in some form, while Seaford and Delaware City required them in townhouses.
Why it matters for Contractors
If you build in Dover, sprinklers are now a line item on new houses, duplexes and townhouses. Get real quotes from a licensed sprinkler contractor before you bid, since the published estimates run from about $4,000 to $10,000 a house, and ask the city's water utility early about service and meter requirements for a sprinklered house. Plan for added sequencing too, because the system has to be roughed in and inspected along with your other trades.
If you had a designer under contract and working on a project before the code took effect, pull together the contract, drawings and invoices now and ask the city's building official about reviewing it under the old code. Remodelers should ask before quoting a large addition or alteration, since the ordinance leaves room for that kind of work to trigger sprinklers on its own.