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Advocates for accelerated housing production across Connecticut say the state missed an opportunity to spur construction of modestly-priced apartments with the repeal of “single stair” building codes that were set to take effect this year.
The changes approved in a 2024 law would have legalized 4-story apartment buildings with a single staircase, in an increase from the previous 3-story limit. The potential increase in density would make more multifamily projects financially feasible, supporters said.
But legislators repealed the changes – before they were scheduled to take effect in an updated building code – after fire officials objected to potential safety risks.
Pete Harrison, Connecticut director of the Stamford-based Regional Plan Association, said the changes would have spurred construction of apartment buildings on neglected parcels. Many projects that are currently too costly to build under the current code would be feasible if developers were able to build more units.
“It unlocks the smaller irregular lot and infill developments, the 2-acre lot in New Haven or Bridgeport or Westport that a developer could turn into a 4-story, nine-unit complex,” Harrison said.
National Movement Pushes for Changes
The “single stair” movement has gained traction in recent years thanks to housing advocates arguing that existing fire codes unreasonably restrict construction of certain types of apartment buildings.
A Pew Research Center study released last year concluded that 4- to 6-story apartment buildings with relatively small floor plates can be served by a single stairway without increasing fire deaths. And smaller buildings with 19 or fewer help contain rents, by providing the most affordable rents in urban, suburban and rural areas alike, the report noted, citing data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey and American Housing Survey.
Seven states expanded opportunities to build single-stair multifamily in 2025. And in February, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey formed a commission to study legalization of single-stair multifamily buildings. The changes could spur construction of 130,000 new homes in the Bay State, according to a 2024 study by design firm Utile, Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies and the Boston Indicators think tank.
Attempts in Connecticut to change stairway requirements in multifamily buildings date back to 2024. Groups including Pro-Homes CT and the Home Builders & Remodelers Association of Connecticut led the lobbying efforts, and the increase to 4-story single-stair buildings was approved by legislators in 2024.
But before the changes could take effect, fire officials raised objections with the Legislative Regulation Review Committee, which was studying the final changes to the state building code, the CT Mirror publication reported last month. In 2025, legislators considered a bill that would have legalized 4-story single-stair construction only if coupled with additional fire department staffing and equipment requirements.
The changes would have made it difficult for most communities to provide sufficient fire response, “rendering new single-stair development functionally infeasible,” Home Builders & Remodelers Association of Connecticut CEO Jim Perras testified in October.
Research: New Buildings Have Low Fire Death Rates
Citing the Pew Research Center study, Perras argued that “the age of a building – not its number of stairs – is the strongest predictor of fire fatality risk.”
The research determined that modern buildings built after 2010 have far lower rates of fire fatalities, reflecting the current building codes’ requirements for fire-rated construction materials, automatic sprinkler systems, self-closing doors and advanced detection and suppression.
In his own testimony, the Regional Plan Association’s Harrison noted that New York City saw no increase in fire fatalities after legalizing single-stair buildings in 2012, which number over 4,440 to-date.
The Hartford-based Partnership for Strong Communities also has supported the potential changes.
In wake of the defeat, supporters vowed to continue pursuing the changes.
“The national standards are already going in this direction. We’ll come back to this to figure out how to still move this forward,” Harrison said.
