Mandatory sprinklers could hike cost of homes
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The cost of a new single-family home could increase by several thousand dollars in Pennsylvania if a building code requiring new homes to be outfitted with sprinkler systems is allowed to take effect.
But by how many thousands, exactly?
Builders, who oppose the new safety measure, say the systems cost $10,000 or more to install. Groups in favor of mandatory sprinklers say such systems usually run much less than that, about $1.50 or so per square foot, or about $3,000 for a detached, 2,000-square-foot single-family house.
And, cost aside, pro-sprinkler groups say the measure ultimately isn't about cost.
It's about safety.
If the sprinkler section of the law takes effect as scheduled on Jan. 1, 2011, Pennsylvania would be the first state to mandate sprinkler systems in all new houses for single families and two-family duplexes (already, that's the law for newly built town homes, and most apartment buildings and condos have had sprinkler systems for years). California is also set to adopt the sprinkler rules, on the same day, as is New Hampshire, and the rule is stirring debates there, as well.
The home-building controversy spills out of the updated International Residential Code; it's one of several building codes adopted by the state in the last few years as part of the over-arching Universal Construction Code, a series of construction, engineering, fire, electrical and plumbing regulations for residential and commercial buildings hashed out by experts in those respective fields.
The master UCC code, which took effect in 2004, was meant to standardize construction methods and inspection standards across the state and is updated regularly whenever revised sub-codes are issued.
The Legislature has the ability to amend the codes if certain elements prove controversial, or unnecessary, and builders hope that the sprinkler system requirement fits that bill.
First Published September 25, 2010 12:00 am
