The 2009 International Residential Code (IRC) includes a
requirement for fire sprinklers in new one- and two-family
houses. The measure was approved at final code hearings in
Minneapolis, Minnesota in September of 2008, as the Journal of
Light Construction reported (see
"
IRC Adopts Residential-Sprinkler Requirement," by Jon Vara,
Dec08). But states that adopt national model codes are allowed
to opt out of particular requirements, and the sprinkler
requirement is now facing state-by-state and, in some cases,
town-by-town political resistance from builders who say the
cost is excessive and the benefits marginal.
Builder advocacy has gotten the attention of state
legislators, including lawmakers in some coastal states. In
Tallahassee, Florida, the House Governmental Affairs Policy
committee has voted unanimously for a measure that would
require the state Building Commission to amend out the fire
sprinkler provision when it adopts the 2009 IRC, reports the
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
("
New home fire sprinkler mandate tabled," by Kathleen
Haughney).
The topic is also hot in Virginia, where builders are facing
off against firefighters in an attempt to influence the
Virginia Board for Housing and Community Development, which
aims to adopt the latest model code in June, according to
Richmond TV station WWBT
("
Should
sprinklers be required in all new homes?" by Melissa
Correa).
And in South Carolina, as in Florida, legislators are
stepping in to force the building agency's hand. The state
Building Codes Council has voted to adopt the IRC complete with
fire sprinkler mandate, but South Carolina Senate Bill 1057
would reverse that decision, according to the Charleston Post
and Courier
("
Builders fight sprinkler proposal," by David
MacDougall).
South Carolina has seen nine fatalities from house fires in
the first two months of 2010, reports the Hilton Head Island
Packet
("
Bill would make residential sprinkler systems optional, not
required," by Laura Nahmias). And two dramatic and deadly
fires remain fresh in the state's memory from two years ago,
the Island Packet notes: "One, at a Charleston sofa store
without a sprinkler system, killed nine firefighters in June,
2007. Four months later, six University of South Carolina
students and one Clemson student perished in a house fire at
Ocean Isle, N.C., where they were vacationing. The home had a
smoke alarm but no sprinkler system."
The Ocean Isle fire is covered in an archived USA Today
account
("
Fatal beach house fire likely accidental," by Oren Dorell;
contributing: Jennifer Lindgren of WLTX-TV in Columbia, S.C.;
the Associated Press), in a
detailed Wikipedia report