Fire, health, and safety standards protect everyone living in or visiting your chapter house — and they're some of the easiest requirements to overlook until something goes wrong. Here's exactly what FIPG requires.
For: House managers, risk management chairmen, and House Corporation volunteers.
When: Start of the year, and anytime the house is used for an event.
Chapter House Standards
☐ Meet all local fire and health codes and standards
☐ Post emergency numbers for fire, police, and ambulance by common phones and in other visible locations
☐ Post evacuation routes on the back of the door of each sleeping room
☐ Comply with engineering recommendations reported by the insurance company or municipal authorities
📌 Policy — These are standards, not suggestions — insurance and municipal engineering recommendations must actually be followed, not just filed away.
Prohibited Items and Activities
☐ No firearms, explosives, or incendiary devices of any kind anywhere within the chapter house premises
☐ No candles in chapter houses or individual rooms, except under controlled circumstances such as initiation
⚠️ Watch out — "Controlled circumstances" is narrow. Decorative or everyday candle use in a room doesn't qualify — this is meant for specific, supervised occasions like ritual.
Make This a Shared Responsibility
House Corporation typically manages the physical building, while chapter officers manage day-to-day compliance — which means these standards can quietly fall into the gap between the two.
☐ Confirm who is responsible for posting & updating evacuation routes each year
☐ Walk the house with House Corporation at the start of the year to check fire/safety items together
☐ Bring any known code or engineering issues to House Corporation immediately, not at the next scheduled meeting
✅ Best practice — Put a joint BOG–House Corporation walk-through of these items on the calendar every fall, rather than assuming "someone" is keeping up with them.
FAQ
Who's responsible for posting evacuation routes — the chapter or House Corporation?
The policy doesn't assign this to one party by name, so your BOG and House Corporation need to explicitly agree on who owns it — don't leave it assumed.
Are candles ever allowed in the chapter house?
Only under controlled circumstances, such as initiation — not for everyday or decorative use in individual rooms.
What if our university's fire code is stricter than what's listed here?
Follow whichever standard is stricter. This policy is a floor, not a ceiling — university and local codes that go further still apply.
Questions? Contact your Chapter Services Consultant.
Last reviewed: September 2026.