URGENT: Henderson Fire Code Vote - What Businesses Need
- ganier8
- Jun 17
- 2 min read
Updated: Jun 18
Summary of the Issues
The City is adopting the 2024 International Fire Code, replacing the 2021 version (which itself only went into effect locally a few years ago). But Henderson isn’t just adopting the updated base code—they’ve added new permits, new fees, new enforcement powers, and restructured how business fire safety is regulated in ways that affect nearly every commercial property.
While the City pushes this expansion forward, the underlying enforcement and review system is still fundamentally broken. How do we know?
Because the Fire Safety Division issued or revised SEVEN major guidelines all at once in January 2025:
Resubmittal and Revision Guideline
General Notes – Fire Alarm
Pathway Class and Survivability Nomenclature Bulletin
Fire Safety Checklist – Two-Way Communication Systems
Monitoring Permit Guideline
Emergency Fire Alarm Panel Replacement Guideline
Speech Intelligibility Guideline
These were all updated just a few months ago in response to repeated industry complaints about inconsistent reviews, unclear inspection expectations, and lack of accountability. But let’s be honest—new PDFs don’t fix structural dysfunction. These are just guidelines. Not one has been in place long enough to demonstrate improved outcomes. Yet the City now wants to expand the exact system those documents were trying to patch.
A $601 annual monitoring fee per business location, with no clear explanation of scope
Annual operational permits are now required even for basic systems like fire pumps and sprinklers
Recurring building-wide permits under vague language that could apply to every tenant or business, regardless of actual hazards
No internal accountability on plan review, yet resubmittals cost $445+ each time
Inspection fees as high as $536/hr, with no guarantee of reviewer consistency
Apparatus standby now $500/hr, with four-hour minimums—even for special events and film shoots
All of this is being justified under the banner of safety. But it’s really a bureaucratic expansion built to feed an enterprise fund that now requires every operational cost to be covered by fees, even when those costs are the result of inefficient administration and policy creep.
Full Email Template to Send to City Council
Official City of Henderson Contact Information
702-267-2406 (Mayor’s Office)
702-267-2085 (City Council Offices)
702-267-2084 (Constituent Issues and Concerns)
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