Bill to Prohibit Mandatory Residential Fire Sprinkler Introduced in General Assembly

A bill that prohibits mandatory residential fire sprinklers (S. 1057) has been introduced in the General Assembly and is currently before the S.C. Senate. The IRC 2009 building code contains a new requirement to install fire sprinklers in all new homes beginning in 2011. The Home Builders Association of South Carolina is opposed to this new requirement and is asking legislators to support the bill prohibiting mandatory residential fire sprinklers, but we can’t do it alone. Help protect the American dream of homeownership by contacting your state Senator today and urging him/her to vote for S. 1057.

If the IRC 2009 sprinkler requirement is implemented, home owners will be paying thousands of dollars more for their new home; many potential home buyers will be priced out of the market; the number of new homes produced will decline; the demand for building supplies will be reduced; water suppliers will face a new underfunded demand for water connections; and local governments will have less tax revenue due to fewer homes being built. In addition, the economic recovery that has begun in South Carolina will stand still!

The issue here is consumer choice. Homeowners will be forced to pay thousands of dollars for fire sprinklers that they do not want or cannot afford. Data show that home owners have installed very few sprinklers in their homes because they see sprinklers as a high cost with a low return in investment. Everyone knows the effectiveness of integrated smoke alarm systems, which have been in all new homes since 2000. Smoke alarms provide a 99.4% survival rate.

More information about residential fire sprinklers can be found online at www.hbaofsc.com.