While lives have been saved as a result of sprinklers, some builders and home owners say it’s too expensive, and prices some people with lesser means out of buying a home in the state, according to what nbcwashington told MHProNews.
“Having residential sprinklers gives that early intervention to save lives to get those folks out of the house, and it’s also saving firefighters with the light construction, these houses are starting to collapse much sooner,” State Fire Marshal Brian Geraci said.
The housing industry has requested that counties on the Eastern Shore and in the western part of the state be exempt from the new law, especially in rural areas. “Permits have dropped dramatically in that area since this mandate took effect,” said David Reel, of the Manufactured Housing Institute of Maryland. “The market is slowly recovering from the great downturn. This is just chopping the legs out from people that need and want affordable housing.”
Sprinkler systems can cost anywhere from $6,000 to $20,000 to install, and smoke detectors are nearly as effective, say builders.
“I know businesses that have closed because they aren’t selling homes, and up in the rural areas where they’re so close to Pennsylvania and West Virginia, you’re finding that those people are moving out of state,” said Larry Checca, of Manufactured Housing Institute of Maryland.
Both Montgomery and Prince George’s counties have required sprinklers, and neither has recorded a fire death in a home with a sprinkler system since each county established the requirement—Prince George’s since 1992, Montgomery since 2004. ##
(Photo credit: wikipediacommons–sprinkler)
