Building Code questions

[MushCreek]

I spent a rainy day yesterday perusing the South Carolina building codes on-line (and you thought your life was boring!) It turns out that they are currently using IRC 2006, but will be going to IRC 2009 as of January 1. I couldn't find a free copy of 2009, so I couldn't compare the two. Anyone know what changes are in store with 2009? One biggie is residential sprinkler systems, but I got conflicting stories as to whether SC is going to adopt that or not. One story says the have adopted it, another said it had been tabled until 2014 (?) The other big question is this: If I pull my permit before Jan. 1, does my build remain under 2006, or would I have to meet 2009 by the time the build is finished? Would it be worth my while to get my permit prior to Jan 1? I plan to start in March anyway, so I could pull a permit when I visit in October. I have to show 'progress' at least every 6 months, so I can drag this out a long time if need be. I know the best thing to do is talk to the building department about it, and I will do that, but I was curious if anyone had any experience with this.

[Don_P]

My understanding is that sprinklers will be in the model IRC in the 2011 edition. Each state chooses whether and what to adopt. For instance my state chose not to adopt the foundation bolting requirements in the '06 model code into our state version that our inspectors enforce. I believe that section has been changed in the '09. Then wall bracing is much tighter.
...
Rather than go off the top, I googled, this link has a good looking laundry list;
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/build/msg0921245028564.html

The IRC shut down their free forum last year, that was how I had kept up with upcoming changes and interpretation. Nice guys  .

Edit; this is a more detailed link,
http://www.bedfordnh.org/pages/BedfordNH_CodeEnforcement/2009IRC.PDF