09 Fire Sprinklers For Single Family.

K2

).

Should get adopted here in 2011. The price of new homes should be through the roof but the guys owning flood and restore companies should be able to afford anything.

K2

Here's my opinion on the subject.

The new constructions with proper fire blocking/firestop, draft stop, rated walls and ceilings are not the problem. It's in old construction that fires get out of hand.

j_builder

Yup, It's already mandated as of this year here in some local cities...when I went to pull the local building permits in another city and the building department planer said that I couldn't even add a new closet without adding a new complete interior fire sprinkler system.

My question to her was how in the world can I add $10,000.00 plus dollars to a $50,000.00 interior upgrade...her answer if they can afford that price for the scope of work to your project what's another 10k. Customer went ballistic and didn't understand why...never did do that job remodeling project and still have the plans right next to my desk starting to collect a little dust now.

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K2

We'll be running into the extra tap fees. 3/4 tap right now is $4800.00. The required 1-1/4 tap is around $14000.00. On existing we'll have to add a 1' tap at around $10,000. That's before you put a shovel in the ground. Yikes..

Cdat

So, just another excuse for people to get things done illegally.

K2

Ten thousand bucks is a pretty god excuse. But i think someone rigth now is working on a compliant holding/pressue tank to make a 3/4 tap work. Maybe some kind of maintained foam system will also do the trick?? Anyway, when the country gets ready to build again guys should be prepared to adjust the game plan a little.

RizzoMaryland

New homes in this area have required it for a couple of years now. Welcome to the club!

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rbsremodeling

DC has it on the books they enforce it for a bit then it fell off the map. I know its going to pop up any minute now

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K2

I guess I made it sound like a local thing but it's going in the IRC for 09. It will be hard for any juristiction to ignore.

RizzoMaryland

When altering or adding square footage to a house with a sprinkler system already, the fire department is pretty particular about enforcing the code here in Montgomery county. Rockville city fire inspectors make a whole day out of the inspection.

Just another permit, inspection and process to get used to. I guess its for the better. I imagine enforcement and compliance in DC is more of a pain.

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JohnJ0906

I read this requirement in the 2006 Life Safety Code.

The interesting thing is the statistics from Scottsdale AZ. They have required sprinkler systems in 1-family dwellings since '86.

More than 50% of homes are now sprinkler protected.
Since the ordinance was implemented, 598 fires have occurred, 49 in a sprinkered home.
NO fatalities in a sprinklered home. 13 fatalities in non-sprinklered.
Less water damage in the sprinklered homes. Avg 341 gallons discharged in a sprinklered home vs. 2935 gals by the FD in non-sprinklered.

Less fire damage - $2166 vs. $45,019

Average cost, nationwide, adds 1 to 1.5% to the cost of the home. In Scottsdale, the avg. install cost was $.80 per square foot.



I got these stats from the Fife Safety Code handbook.

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John from Baltimore
"One Day at a Time"
All replies based on the 2008 NEC

mickeyco

Did they have stats for other cities or just the ones more favorable to their point of view. I hope your were wearing protective gloves when you typed your post so as not to damage your finger tips, the gloves should be mandatory, I'm actually selling special typing gloves for only $49.99 a pair.







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K2

Here are some stats on odds of dying, http://www.nsc.org/research/odds.aspx

1 in 84 for car wreck and 1 in 1431 for fire. I would suggest that for modern construction with proper fireblocking, rated wall etc. the odds would be more like 1 in 3000 for fire. Regardless, i'd rather spend my dough on the 1 in 84 number.

tgeb

The stats in your link indicate;
Almost as high as the risk of dying in fire, which if you have need medical treatment after the car wreck, what happens to those stats?

What if I am in a fiery car crash, and need medical attention?

As some of my associates from Maryland have stated we have had the sprinkler code for a couple years or so.

My take on it is that it is very expensive when looked at from a cost/benefit ratio. Though the loss of life and property is tragic to say the least, the likelihood of fire is in my opinion very slim.

So to demand that systems be installed in every home seems to assume that every home will be involved in a fire. If we all get them installed can we layoff the fire dept.?

We did a renovation that required sprinklers be installed, and with the cost of, the sprinkler system, water line upgrade and permit fees it added about 40K to the job, and the Dept. of Permitting Services could not care less if the HO could afford the extra cost or not.

Why should we have to upgrade the water services for sprinklers anyway? It's not like anyone will be hanging out using the water while the house is on fire.

I do believe in protecting life and property but where do we draw the line when making mandates.

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Tom

www.gebcon.com

tgeb

Kind of hard to make much of those stats, there were 12 times as many fires in non sprinklered vs those with sprinklers, If 1 person died in the 50th fire in a sprinklered home they would be almost even.

Probably more to those stats as well, How many fires as the result of smoking, drinking, cooking meth, etc. Obviously the non sprinklered homes are older and some would be poorly constructed, or in need of facility upgrades.

I would think they publish stats to reach the conclusion that they want.

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Tom

www.gebcon.com

JohnJ0906

Just putting the info out there. I don't really have an opinion on it one way or the other.

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John from Baltimore
"One Day at a Time"
All replies based on the 2008 NEC

woodchuck2

If your in a fiery car crash then i guess you needed sprinklers in your car. If the town around here start pushing for sprinklers then i want a reduction in my taxes for fire prevention. Your homeowners ins. is already based on the type of fire protection you have too, that rates should also go down. I used to be a fireman and gave it up, but i fully understand the need for added fire protection but like said above why does it have to be mandated. If you were to have a small incident in your home with a sprinkler and you ended up with just water damage would your homeowners cover it? Maybe they would just consider it flood damage and leave you hanging out to dry.