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Home builders from across the nation are battling a plan to require sprinkler systems in all new single-family homes, and they brought their fight to Baltimore this week.
The issue - which could add thousands of dollars to the cost of a new home - pits fire safety advocates and developers against each other over a regulation in the 2009 International Residential Code. The council that develops the code is meeting downtown this week, and will consider a call from home builders to kill a requirement that all new homes have sprinklers by 2011.
Instead, the National Association of Home Builders wants sprinklers to be offered as an optional feature, a compromise, the group says, that would leave the choice up to consumers. The NAHB maintains that the cost of sprinklers in single-family homes outweighs the benefits of systems that can be difficult to maintain and expensive to install.
Sprinklers cost, on average, an extra $1.61 per square foot, or about $3,800 extra for a 2,400-square-foot house, fire safety experts said. Yet builders say the costs can rise steeply depending on the size and location of the house, especially if the house uses a well and septic system.
Under a "mandatory option," to be proposed in hearings before the International Code Council today or Thursday, builders would include the features and cost of a system as an option in the sales contract.
"A mandatory option is the preferred way to go," said John E. Kortecamp, executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Maryland. "Then it's up to the consumer."
The Code Council, a membership association, develops minimum residential and commercial building codes used by most cities, counties and states - though codes have no legal standing until adopted as law. Some jurisdictions choose to enact more stringent regulations; for instance sprinklers have been required in all new townhouses in Maryland since the early 1990s and are required in single-family residences in nine counties, including Montgomery, Prince George's and Carroll.
Before blanket regulations are passed, Kortecamp said, more needs to be done to develop sprinkler systems that can operate along with standard plumbing systems, as opposed to separate systems and storage tanks.
But fire safety advocates argue the technology is available and the costs are minimal for the only known method of extinguishing a fire before help arrives. Smoke alarms, they say, are not enough.
"Based on my experience ... sprinklers in residential properties certainly save lives," said William E. Barnard, Maryland fire marshal. "Clearly, smoke alarms are needed to issue an early warning, but that does not do anything toward putting the fire out."
He points to a report showing no fire fatalities over a 15-year period in homes with sprinklers in Prince George's County, where sprinklers are required in single-family homes and townhouses.
Meri-K Appy, president of the Home Safety Council, said by the time a smoke alarm rings, it is often too late for residents to escape. From the moment of ignition to flash-over - the deadliest part of a fire - residents have an average of three minutes to get out, she said.
By contrast, "fire sprinklers, which operate automatically when a fire is small, puts just a little bit of water on that fire, and very often puts it out completely before the fire department even arrives on the scene," she said. "The only thing I know that will balance the scale against a deadly fire are sprinklers."
But builders say increasing building costs and home prices in a recession is a bad idea.
"Consumer confidence is still at a real low point and everyone is hedging his bets," Kortecamp said. "Adding costs would only deter or delay the recovery of the market."
Some builders say homeowners have been reluctant to pay extra for a sprinkler system when given the choice.
Chris Rachuba, a member of the Rachuba Group, a Baltimore-area home builder, said Howard County now requires builders to offer customers sprinklers in new single-family homes. In the couple of years the requirement as been in effect, "I have yet to have anyone who's added sprinklers as an option."
The issue - which could add thousands of dollars to the cost of a new home - pits fire safety advocates and developers against each other over a regulation in the 2009 International Residential Code. The council that develops the code is meeting downtown this week, and will consider a call from home builders to kill a requirement that all new homes have sprinklers by 2011.
Instead, the National Association of Home Builders wants sprinklers to be offered as an optional feature, a compromise, the group says, that would leave the choice up to consumers. The NAHB maintains that the cost of sprinklers in single-family homes outweighs the benefits of systems that can be difficult to maintain and expensive to install.
Sprinklers cost, on average, an extra $1.61 per square foot, or about $3,800 extra for a 2,400-square-foot house, fire safety experts said. Yet builders say the costs can rise steeply depending on the size and location of the house, especially if the house uses a well and septic system.
Under a "mandatory option," to be proposed in hearings before the International Code Council today or Thursday, builders would include the features and cost of a system as an option in the sales contract.
"A mandatory option is the preferred way to go," said John E. Kortecamp, executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Maryland. "Then it's up to the consumer."
The Code Council, a membership association, develops minimum residential and commercial building codes used by most cities, counties and states - though codes have no legal standing until adopted as law. Some jurisdictions choose to enact more stringent regulations; for instance sprinklers have been required in all new townhouses in Maryland since the early 1990s and are required in single-family residences in nine counties, including Montgomery, Prince George's and Carroll.
Before blanket regulations are passed, Kortecamp said, more needs to be done to develop sprinkler systems that can operate along with standard plumbing systems, as opposed to separate systems and storage tanks.
But fire safety advocates argue the technology is available and the costs are minimal for the only known method of extinguishing a fire before help arrives. Smoke alarms, they say, are not enough.
"Based on my experience ... sprinklers in residential properties certainly save lives," said William E. Barnard, Maryland fire marshal. "Clearly, smoke alarms are needed to issue an early warning, but that does not do anything toward putting the fire out."
He points to a report showing no fire fatalities over a 15-year period in homes with sprinklers in Prince George's County, where sprinklers are required in single-family homes and townhouses.
Meri-K Appy, president of the Home Safety Council, said by the time a smoke alarm rings, it is often too late for residents to escape. From the moment of ignition to flash-over - the deadliest part of a fire - residents have an average of three minutes to get out, she said.
By contrast, "fire sprinklers, which operate automatically when a fire is small, puts just a little bit of water on that fire, and very often puts it out completely before the fire department even arrives on the scene," she said. "The only thing I know that will balance the scale against a deadly fire are sprinklers."
But builders say increasing building costs and home prices in a recession is a bad idea.
"Consumer confidence is still at a real low point and everyone is hedging his bets," Kortecamp said. "Adding costs would only deter or delay the recovery of the market."
Some builders say homeowners have been reluctant to pay extra for a sprinkler system when given the choice.
Chris Rachuba, a member of the Rachuba Group, a Baltimore-area home builder, said Howard County now requires builders to offer customers sprinklers in new single-family homes. In the couple of years the requirement as been in effect, "I have yet to have anyone who's added sprinklers as an option."
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The cost of sprinklers doesn't deter home buyers. What they're looking for is quality of life in the community: good schools, policing, culture. I suspect people would gladly accept the added cost of an additional safety feature to enjoy a community's services.
jpmiller (10/28/2009, 11:56 AM )