Builders concerned about sprinkler mandate
BY COURTENAY EDELHART, Californian staff writer
cedelhart@bakersfield.com | Wednesday, Sep 22 2010 05:31 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, Sep 22 2010 05:31 PM
http://www.bakersfield.com/news/local/x174836197/Builders-concerned-about-sprinkler-mandate
Homebuilders are bracing themselves for the latest state building code update, which mandates interior sprinkler systems in new single- and two-family homes built in California starting Jan. 1.
A recent Fire Protection Research Foundation study estimated that will add $1.61 per square foot to the cost of a new home. Local builders dispute that figure and say it could be as much as $6 per square foot.
Either way, the Office of the State Fire Marshal says indoor sprinklers are a desperately needed safety feature because as many as 3,000 people a year die in residential fires.
Builders say the new mandate is kicking them when they're down.
"In the market we live in right now, there's no room for these kinds of mandatory extra costs," said David Cates, president of Bakersfield-based Lenox Homes, who said installing sprinklers will add $3,000 to $6,000 to the cost of one of his starter homes.
Buyers of larger houses might find the money for that by downsizing, Cates said, but people shopping for smaller homes could be priced out of the market entirely.
"My prices start at $139,000. To add $6,000 on top of that is huge," Cates said.
Roger Cortez, owner of G.J. Gardner Homes, said the sprinkler requirement is especially burdensome because the state also has mandated stricter standards for energy efficiency beginning next year, and that, too, is eating into thin profit margins.
"They're just loading more and more stuff on us," Cortez said.
At the same time, he acknowledged that if he were building a home for someone he loved, he would want it to have sprinklers.
The updated California Building Standards Code reflects the recommendations of the International Residential Code, which is hammered out by a multinational coalition of fire officials, mechanical experts, architects, builders and other industry professionals. The group's recommendations aren't binding unless deemed so by government agencies, but they often are adopted by state and local jurisdictions.
Indoor sprinklers won't be a selling point, said Jeanne Radsick, owner of Century 21 Hometown Realty in Bakersfield.
"In all the years I've been selling new construction, no one ever wanted to have sprinklers," Radsick said. "They're ugly and expensive. Talk about crippling an already crippled industry. This is unbelievable."
Kevin Reinertson is the division chief for code development and analysis for the Office of the State Fire Marshal.
He said he's sympathetic to builders struggling in a weak economy, but insisted "there really is no wrong time to do this. These are fire and life safety issues."
Also, on the consumer side, homeowner insurance discounts may offset some of the pain of the higher purchase price, Reinertson said.
The foundation study looked at 10 communities that already mandate indoor sprinklers and found that the average premium discount was 7 percent.
Sprinklers are triggered by extremely intense heat from flames, not smoke, so a routine burned casserole won't send water showering down from the ceiling, Reinertson said. The water also is head-specific, meaning only the immediate area over the flames will go off.
Sprinklers won't necessarily put out a blaze, but they can buy enough time for a family to escape safely, Reinertson said.
"Even if firefighters are nearby and get there in five minutes, sometimes that's too late," he said. "Five minutes could be all it takes."
Kudos again and be safe!
