Fire sprinklers required in new homes in '09

If it's autumn (although who can tell?), it must be fire season.

Perfect timing, then, for the International Code Council, the nation's leading building-code body, to pass a residential fire sprinkler requirement for all new one- and two-bedroom houses and townhouses, beginning in 2009. The council included a grace period of two years to implement the new rule.

The requirement, passed early this week, applies to 45 states and the District of Columbia.

Fire deaths in the U.S. have declined during the last three decades because of the widespread use of household smoke alarms. Still, fires caused more than 3,000 deaths in 2007 and resulted in more than $14 billion in direct property loss, according to the National Fire Protection Assn.

"We are thrilled not only because this moment has taken decades of demanding work to achieve," said Home Safety Council President Meri-K Appy, "but because it provides protection for potential victims of future fires."

--Diane Wedner

Your thoughts? Comments?

Photo: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Jim]

Great. Who's going to pay for all the water damage when the sprinklers malfunction like smoke detectors do? Shouldn't the decision of whether or not sprinklers are worthwhile lie with the homeowner (and his/her insurance company)?

[weary]

I'm in Vermont. This month I expect to spend close to $2000 to bring my condo unit built in 1980 up to current code. It's $900 to install combination smoke alarm / carbon monoxide detectors on the first floor, in each of the two bedrooms upstairs, the 4 foot corrider between in the bedrooms and the 3rd loft area used for storage. The balance would then be spent to install an new fire alarm system for the 10 unit project. This will include a strobe light and sound alarm in each of the units.

[syscom3]

The false alarm rate of the sprinklers is extremely small. So small that it isnt something to worry about.

Plus the sprinklers might get you a sizeable rate reduction for your homeowners insurance.