Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 148, § 26H (2026)

Lodging or boarding houses; automatic sprinkler systems

✓ current as of July 2026

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Section 26H. In any city or town which accepts the provisions of this section, every lodging house or boarding house shall be protected throughout with an adequate system of automatic sprinklers in accordance with the provisions of the state building code. No such sprinkler system shall be required unless sufficient water and water pressure exists. In such buildings or in certain areas of such buildings, where the discharge of water would be an actual danger in the event of a fire, the head of the fire department shall permit the installation of such other fire suppressant systems as are prescribed by the state building code in lieu of automatic sprinklers. The head of the fire department shall enforce the provisions of this section.

For the purposes of this section ''lodging house'' or ''boarding house'' shall mean a house where lodgings are let to six or more persons not within the second degree of kindred to the person conducting it, but shall not include fraternity houses or dormitories, rest homes or group residences licensed or regulated by agencies of the commonwealth.

Any lodging or boarding house subject to the provisions of this section shall be equipped with automatic sprinklers within five years after acceptance of this act by a city or town.

Whoever is aggrieved by the head of the fire department's interpretation, order, requirement or direction under the provisions of this section, may within forty-five days after the service of notice thereof, appeal from such interpretation, order or requirement to the board of appeals of the fire safety commission as provided in section two hundred and one of chapter six.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 11 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1991–2025 · leading case: Massachusetts Sober Hous. Corp. v. Automatic Sprinkler Appeals Bd., 850 N.E.2d 585 (Mass. App. Ct. 2006).

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Massachusetts Sober Hous. Corp. v. Automatic Sprinkler Appeals Bd., 850 N.E.2d 585 (Mass. App. Ct. 2006). · cites it 8× “Massachusetts Sober Housing Corporation (MSHC), a nonprofit organization that operates group housing for recovering substance abusers, appeals from a judgment ordering MSHC to install an automatic sprinkler system in its Chelsea group home pursuant to G. L. c. 148, § 26H. This…”

MacLaurin v. City of Holyoke, 475 Mass. 231 (Mass. 2016). · cites it 4× “See G. L. c. 148, § 26H. Again in 1986, after a major fire in the Prudential Center in Boston, sprinklers were required in existing, and not just new, high rise buildings across the Commonwealth, G.”

City of Worcester v. Coll. Hill Props., LLC, 987 N.E.2d 1236 (Mass. 2013). · cites it 2× “See G. L. c. 148, § 26H. The defendants explained that, even where students had been offered dormitory placement, the college’s housing administrator estimated that transition from an off-campus apartment to a dormitory room generally required at least one week to put in place.”

Summers v. City of Fitchburg, 940 F.3d 133 (1st Cir. 2019). “See Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 148, § 26H (the Sprinkler Law).”

Brockton Fire Dep't v. St. Mary Broad Street, LLC, 181 F. Supp. 3d 155 (D. Mass. 2016). “After a kitchen fire at a sober house on Copeland Street in Brockton, Massachusetts, the Brockton Fire Department, through Lieutenant Edward Williams, brought an action in the Brockton Housing Court seeking to enforce the State Sprinkler Law, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 148, § 26H,…”

Summers v. City of Fitchburg, 325 F. Supp. 3d 203 (D.D.C. 2018). “On July 10, 2014, Tata, a member of the Fitchburg Fire Prevention Bureau, sent Summers a letter informing him that three of the sober houses, classified as lodging homes, were required to install fire suppression or sprinkler systems under Mass. Gen. L. c. 148, § 26H (the…”

Chief of the Fire Dep't v. Allard, 566 N.E.2d 628 (Mass. App. Ct. 1991). “In 1987 the city of Lynn accepted G. L. c. 148, § 26H, inserted by St. 1986, c.”

Crossing Over, Inc. & Others v. City of Fitchburg & Others (Mass. Super. Ct. 2019). · cites it 12× “30A, §14; and Count II: injunctive relief to prevent the defendants from enforcing the sprinkler requirements under G.L. c. 148, § 26H.[3] Specifically, they seek judgment in their favor on an appeal of an Automatic Sprinkler Appeals Board (Board) decision under G.”

City of Worcester v. Coll. Hill Props., LLC, 956 N.E.2d 1222 (Mass. App. Ct. 2011). “On September 25, 1990, the city adopted G. L. c. 148, § 26H, requiring lodging houses in Worcester to be equipped with sprinkler systems no later than the five-year grace period allowed by § 26H.”

Summers v. Goldstein (D. Mass. 2018). “On July 10, 2014, Tata, a member of the Fitchburg Fire Prevention Bureau, sent Summers a letter informing him that three of the sober houses, classified as lodging homes, were required to install fire suppression or sprinkler systems under Mass. Gen. L. c. 148, § 26H (the…”

Bak Realty, LLC, & Another v. City of Fitchburg & Another (Mass. 2025). “140, § 22 (definition of "lodging house"); G. L. c. 148, § 26H (definition of "lodging or boarding houses").”

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