Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 148, § 26A (2026)

Automatic sprinklers in high rise buildings; enforcement; appeals

✓ current as of July 2026

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Section 26A. Every building or structure of more than seventy feet in height above the mean grade shall be protected with an adequate system of automatic sprinklers in accordance with the provisions of the state building code, except that sprinklers shall not be required to be installed in patient rooms in hospitals.

The head of the fire department shall enforce the provisions of this section.

Whoever is aggrieved by the head of the fire department's interpretation, order, requirement, direction or failure to act under the provisions of this section, may, within forty-five days after the service of notice thereof, appeal from such interpretation, order, requirement, direction, or failure to act, to the board of appeals as provided in the state building code and section twenty-three of chapter twenty-three B.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 8 cases, 1988–2016 · leading case: MacLaurin v. City of Holyoke, 475 Mass. 231 (Mass. 2016).

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MacLaurin v. City of Holyoke, 475 Mass. 231 (Mass. 2016). · cites it 4× “See G. L. c. 148, § 26A; St. 1973, c. 395, § l.”

1010 Mem'l Drive Tenants Corp. v. Fire Chief of Cambridge, 677 N.E.2d 219 (Mass. 1997). · cites it 2× “See G. L. c. 148, §§ 26A, 26AV2, 26B, 26C, 26D, 26E.”

Brook House Condo. Trust v. Automatic Sprinkler Appeals Bd., 607 N.E.2d 744 (Mass. 1993). · cites it 2× “In 1973, the Legislature enacted G. L. c. 148, § 26A, inserted by St. 1973, c.”

AT&T v. Automatic Sprinkler Appeals Bd., 750 N.E.2d 505 (Mass. App. Ct. 2001). “12 (1988) (viewing omission of cooperatives from exemptions under G. L. c. 148, § 26A 1/z, as a “gap[] in the statutory provisions,” and construing exemption for condominiums to include cooperatives).”

Fire Chief v. State Bldg. Code Appeals Bd., 611 N.E.2d 736 (Mass. App. Ct. 1993). “” A building higher than seventy feet must, under G. L. c. 148, § 26A, be protected by an automatic sprinkler system.”

Congregation Beth Sholom & Cmty. Ctr., Inc. v. Bldg. Comm'r, 537 N.E.2d 605 (Mass. App. Ct. 1989). “Contrast G. L. c. 148, § 26A 1/2, providing for a phased-in requirement for automatic sprinklers in high-rise buildings through 1998.”

Bennett v. Debonis, 528 N.E.2d 150 (Mass. App. Ct. 1988). “, has been superseded by G. L. c. 148, §§ 26A through 26F, all in effect well before the present tenancy.”

1010 Mem'l Drive Tenants Corp. v. Fire Chief, 3 Mass. L. Rptr. 487 (Mass. Super. Ct. 1995). · cites it 2× “G.L.c. 148, §26A requires that all buildings over 70 feet high and constructed or substantially altered after Januaiy 1, 1975 shall be equipped with automatic sprinklers.”

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