In the state of California, are residential fire sprinkler systems required on new homes? If so, is it on all new homes or based on square footage? And finally, do you know if and or what code this might be in?
Thank you.
There are currently 144 cities and municipalities in California that have some form of residential sprinkler ordinance. It is true that the state will most likely adopt the International Residential Code which will make them mandatory in all new construction.
As for the comment in the other reply, yes, sprinklers add SOME additional cost. Average per square foot cost of a stand-alone system is $1.60 (this price actually drops in areas that adopt sprinkler regulations because of competition and supply). For a 2000 sq ft home selling for $300,000, that equates to roughly $8.80 a month when divided by 360 months ($3200 total).
Now calculate the savings in reduce insurance costs. Most companies will offer 10-25% reductions in premiums for homes with sprinklers. Avg annual home owners insurance is around $600. On a $300K home as above, that totals out to $216,000 for the life of the loan (not accounting for increases). For this example, we’ll use a middle figure of 15% premium reduction. That comes out to a savings of $32,400 over the life of the loan. Your savings is literally 10X what was originally spent.
Since we’re on the subject of costs (something the home builders associations love to bring up to scare you into choosing granite countertops over sprinklers), lets look at avg cost of damage to homes when a fire occurs. The US Fire Administration issued a report that tracked residential sprinkler incidents from January 2003, to June 2007. Of the 448 reported incidents in homes equipped with sprinklers, 434 of them resulted in less than $10,000 in damages (the majority was actually less than $1,000). Average loss in a home without sprinklers: More than $250,000.
Its clear the homebuilders associations which have pumped millions into anti-sprinkler campaigns are only concerned about the bottom line. Save a house with sprinklers, and you take away their money. But we in the fire service dont care about that. We care about people. You cannot put a price on someones life! Each year in America, over 2,600 people die in residential fires, (80% of the total deaths from fire); in those jurisdictions which have residential sprinkler ordinances: 0! Not one person has died in a residential fire where sprinklers and smoke alarms are present and operational.
November 27th, 2009 at 6:01 am
No my sister in law just had a house build in Manhattan Beach and the don’t have fire sprinklers . I think they just need smoke alarm.
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rm
November 27th, 2009 at 6:13 am
The requirements will be enforced starting in 2011 unless the vote that required them is over ridden. The reason it passed was that 900 Sprinkler Fitters came into the meeting to vote, only on that motion. I, personally, think this rule is BS and will only raise costs on new homes. I believe it is contained in the National Plumbing Code.
References :
November 27th, 2009 at 6:59 am
There are currently 144 cities and municipalities in California that have some form of residential sprinkler ordinance. It is true that the state will most likely adopt the International Residential Code which will make them mandatory in all new construction.
As for the comment in the other reply, yes, sprinklers add SOME additional cost. Average per square foot cost of a stand-alone system is $1.60 (this price actually drops in areas that adopt sprinkler regulations because of competition and supply). For a 2000 sq ft home selling for $300,000, that equates to roughly $8.80 a month when divided by 360 months ($3200 total).
Now calculate the savings in reduce insurance costs. Most companies will offer 10-25% reductions in premiums for homes with sprinklers. Avg annual home owners insurance is around $600. On a $300K home as above, that totals out to $216,000 for the life of the loan (not accounting for increases). For this example, we’ll use a middle figure of 15% premium reduction. That comes out to a savings of $32,400 over the life of the loan. Your savings is literally 10X what was originally spent.
Since we’re on the subject of costs (something the home builders associations love to bring up to scare you into choosing granite countertops over sprinklers), lets look at avg cost of damage to homes when a fire occurs. The US Fire Administration issued a report that tracked residential sprinkler incidents from January 2003, to June 2007. Of the 448 reported incidents in homes equipped with sprinklers, 434 of them resulted in less than $10,000 in damages (the majority was actually less than $1,000). Average loss in a home without sprinklers: More than $250,000.
Its clear the homebuilders associations which have pumped millions into anti-sprinkler campaigns are only concerned about the bottom line. Save a house with sprinklers, and you take away their money. But we in the fire service dont care about that. We care about people. You cannot put a price on someones life! Each year in America, over 2,600 people die in residential fires, (80% of the total deaths from fire); in those jurisdictions which have residential sprinkler ordinances: 0! Not one person has died in a residential fire where sprinklers and smoke alarms are present and operational.
References :