Rules for Wood Burning Fireplaces in the Twin Cities (2015, apartment)

[Steve Bowen]

I did a search of previous posts on this forum, as well as Google in general but haven't found an answer to my question. What are the laws and the building code like for wood burning fireplaces in the Twin Cities?

Can you build a new home with a wood burning fireplace? What about an apartment? Is the law or code different in the suburbs than in the Twin Cities proper?

[WoodburyWoody]

When we were looking to move within the Twin Cities in mid-2009, we were considering much of the east metro initially. By the time building became a consideration (early 2010), our relator (who also funds spec homes on occasion) told us that for new builds, rooms with wood burning fireplaces had to be in a room separated from the rest of the house with a fire-rated door. No such requirement for gas-burning fireplaces. We were only considering stand-alone homes.

We were not designing our own house, but from what I recall, the only floorplans I saw from various builders for a wood-burning fireplace option was those with a four season addition that incorporated one or two entries into the room through fire-rated doors. For those few designs we saw, it seems like the wood-burning fireplace in the four season room was always on the wall furthest from the rest of the house.

I don't recall if the wall(s) separating the room with the wood-burning fireplace also needed anything special.

It *might* be in the Minnesota Building Code, which is revised for 2015:

http://www.dli.mn.gov/ccld/codes15.asp