Yuma County adopts 2024 fire code, modernizing safety standards after 20 years

After more than two decades on an older fire code, Yuma County moved to a 2024 standard that will reach into building plans, inspections and occupancy decisions for projects tied to batteries, charging stations and industrial sites.

The Board of Supervisors approved the change on its May 4 agenda as Development Services/Building Safety Division Text Amendment Case No. 26-01, adopting the 2024 International Fire Code under Arizona Revised Statutes § 11-861 and folding it into Ordinance No. 2026-02. The county said the update is meant to strengthen safety as development continues to grow across Yuma County.

The shift matters because the county’s own fire-code framework had fallen far behind. Yuma County’s Fire Code Board of Appeals, which hears appeals of fire-code interpretations and can approve alternate materials and methods of construction, still described its membership in terms tied to Appendix A of the 2003 International Fire Code. In practical terms, the county was operating from a code base rooted in 2003 while newer hazards and technologies had already become part of daily construction.

That gap is now closed on paper, and the people most likely to feel it first are builders, property owners and businesses planning projects that involve lithium battery storage, biomass operations or electric-vehicle charging infrastructure. Those newer uses are addressed in the 2024 code, along with the supporting NFPA standards that Arizona’s state fire marshal says guide review of construction documents under the adopted State Fire Code. For developers, that means fire-safety planning is no longer being measured against an older model that predates much of today’s energy and logistics equipment.

The county’s Building Safety division says its mission is to protect the health, safety and welfare of the community through the consistent application of adopted codes. The City of Yuma already adopted the 2024 International Fire Code with local amendments, putting the county and city on a more modern footing as inspections, permitting and code appeals move forward under updated rules.

County residents also had a formal way to weigh in before the vote. Board materials say public comments could be submitted by email before the meeting and read aloud at the Board of Supervisors session, giving the public a direct role in a code change that will shape how buildings are designed, reviewed and occupied across Yuma County for years to come.