Nothing dooms an ordinance quicker than unanticipated bad news. Take the fire official who discovers the following: the water purveyor wants a separate water line for the sprinkler system and will charge home owners commercial rates for the larger meter. Together, these will add a lot to the cost of installing sprinklers. These problems can be dealt with, but not if discovered at a city council during debate about the proposed ordinance. When these problems surface at the last minute, two things are very likely to happen. First, it hands policy makers who oppose or are ambivalent an excuse to reject it. Second, it makes the fire official look unprepared, and that damages his or her credibility.
Problems like these will be identified in the strategic planning stage. Fire officials need to anticipate all potential downsides like water charges and plan review fees that might cause policy makers to reject an ordinance proposal. It might require that the process be held up while the fire official works to remove these obstacles. A delayed ordinance is better than none at all. Resources like the RFSI checklist will help fire officials identify these problems so they don't get blindsided by them.