Breckenridge officials gave preliminary approval to readopt, adopt or amend several building and fire codes at a recent meeting while Summit County Builders Association urged them to reconsider.

Breckenridge Town Council adopted a library of 2024 building- and fire-related codes from the International Code Council, the 2025 Wildfire Resiliency Code and the 2025 Summit County Aquatic Health Code all in one reading Tuesday, Nov. 11. A second reading is needed for the codes to be officially adopted. 

Ahead of the Nov. 11 meeting, the Summit County Builders Association sent an email to the town requesting elected officials “separate and delay” the adoption of the codes.

“These are three major and distinct policy areas with overlapping cost, infrastructure, and housing impacts,” the association wrote in the email obtained by the Summit Daily. “While we understand the need to stay current with  (International Code Council) updates, bundling all of these codes into a single adoption — without meaningful revision or stakeholder review — moves too much, too fast.” 

In a memo prepared by town staff members it states the town hosted six open houses that focused on the proposed building energy code, and they also touched on some of the other codes included in the ordinance read at the Nov. 11 meeting. 

A state law mandates the adoption of the 2025 Wildfire Resiliency Code, but not until April 2026. Summit County Builders Association Executive Officer Valerie Connelly said the association would have liked to see the town take more time adopting the code, calling it “premature” in a letter written to the town. 

She said the association took issue with amendments made to the fire codes that created more stringent requirements for sprinklers. 

The 2024 International Fire Code the town seeks to adopt mandates homes over 6,000-square-feet have sprinklers. Breckenridge opted to make the requirement applicable to homes 4,5000-square-foot or more. 

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Breckenridge deputy building official Philip Sweat said he communicated the proposed amendment with Red, White and Blue Fire District, engaged in public outreach about the proposed amendment and has and continues to reach out to local builders about it.

Red, White and Blue Chief Executive Officer Jay Nelson said his department agrees with the amendment. 

“I wanted to reiterate that the 4,500 square feet number is not a number that we just pulled out of the air,” he said.

He said the number represents the number of firefighters that are on duty any given day across this county and their ability to fight a fire in a home. He said the square footage requirement is conducive with a staffing requirement career fire departments must abide by. 

“We also feel that adding additional staff to try to increase that limitation on sprinklers is not fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers,” he said. “It costs about $400,000 to add a firefighter to each of our shifts. … That’s quite a burden when you look at the cost of a home fire sprinkler versus the cost of staffing.” 

The requirement for sprinklers also applies to certain home addition situations. Sweat said if a home has a 500-square-foot addition and it results in the home’s footprint exceeding 5,000 square feet, then it would be bound to the sprinkler requirement. 

Connelly said she’s been given estimates that show a sprinkler system for homes 4,500 square feet or larger could cost $27,000. She said this could cost more for those who become bound to the requirement because of adding an addition to their home because of what would need to be done to the interior of the home to install a sprinkler system. 

“It adds cost to projects,” she said in an interview with the Summit Daily. “And the thing is, builders can’t absorb that, builders won’t absorb it. It just passes through to the end user.”

Mayor Kelly Owens wondered if the requirement would impact the town’s multi-dwelling workforce housing projects. Chief building official Rick Fout said multi-dwelling workforce housing units have always been equipped with a sprinkler system.

The town seeks to create a 4,500-square-foot threshold for new builds that have to follow a prescriptive pathway, which creates a set of energy requirements for different components of the home like windows and insulation, in conjunction with the International Energy Conservation Code. 

Council member Jay Beckerman said members of the building community he spoke to didn’t have many issues with the proposed codes. 

“The overwhelming response was positive towards this, and the fact (that it is good for) insurance, for safety and just for the overall good of the building community,” he said. 

Council member Carol Saade said she appreciated the building department’s outreach efforts.