By Marcus Rauhut
Public Opinion
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Builders may get a temporary reprieve from a requirement to install sprinklers in new home construction.
The state House will consider a bill that would delay the implementation of new sprinkler requirements for another year. The bill was recently passed by the Senate.
Builders and fire safety advocacy groups have clashed over building codes that require sprinkler systems to be installed in all new single- and two-family homes.
Home builders say that sprinklers should be a choice — not a mandate — and that sprinkler systems will add to the cost of a new home when builders are struggling through the economic downturn.
Fire safety groups say that sprinklers are a cost-effective means of saving lives.
Lou Biacchi, executive vice president of the Pennsylvania Builders Association, said Monday before a Franklin County Builders Association meeting that the PBA had asked for a delay in the requirements because of the recession’s impact on builders and to allow time to find a balance on the issue.
“What we need to find is a permanent compromise that makes sense,” he said.
Don Konkle, executive director of the Pennsylvania Fire and Emergency Services Institute and former fire chief for the city of Harrisburg, said in a phone interview Monday he was disappointed by the bill’s passage in the Senate.
“We think sprinklers are the most cost-effective way to provide life safety,” he said.
Konkle said sprinklers can put out a fire before smoke reaches toxic levels and can reduce the burden on fire departments, especially in rapidly growing areas.
He added that an ordinance in Harrisburg requiring sprinklers in townhouses has not seriously impacted new townhouse construction.
Builders and fire safety advocacy groups cite different figures on sprinkler system costs, but in rural areas where homes rely on wells, they can be particularly costly because they require additional water storage and a pump.
Local builders Bryan Hey and John Lehman said they would install sprinklers if a customer asks for them, but requiring them now would add to the cost of a new home at a time when banks have tightened their lending and more home buyers are looking to remove options instead of add them.
New home builders also have to compete with a growing number of foreclosed properties, they said.
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