A Florida House committee’s attempt to snuff out a proposed rule requiring fire sprinklers in many newly constructed homes endangers residents and firefighters, according to the Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS).
“Fire sprinklers are a proven, cost-effective way to protect life and property,” said Julie Rochman, IBHS president & CEO. “Eliminating the building code requirement to install fire sprinklers in new homes is a serious and potentially very harmful decision that could place the lives of many Florida families and firefighters in grave danger.”
If successful, legislation under consideration in the Florida House would prohibit the Florida Building Commission from adopting national code provisions contained in the 2009 International Residential Code (IRC) that require installation of automatic sprinklers in townhomes and one- and two-family dwellings. The Florida Building Commission is currently accepting proposed changes to the 2009 IRC for consideration later this year. The 2009 IRC serves as the base document for the 2010 edition of the Florida Residential Code.
While the life safety benefits of sprinklers are undisputed as the result of several high quality studies, some concerns continue to be raised about cost, maintenance, and potential losses to property caused by failures or inadvertent activation of sprinklers.
“It is important that people understand that today’s home sprinkler systems are not what you may remember from childhood at school, where someone could set off one sprinkler head and soak the whole building,” Rochman stated. “There have been significant technological advancements. Today’s automatic residential fire sprinklers are designed to react to a fire much faster than standard commercial systems.”
Among the key features of today’s sprinklers are:
- Each fire sprinkler head has a temperature-sensitive element that causes it (rather than the entire system) to activate when temperatures reach 135 degrees to 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Sprinklers only operate in response to the heat of fire; they do not respond to smoke or vapors.
- Because sprinklers operate individually, only the sprinkler(s) over the fire will activate. While they are primarily intended to control the fire long enough to allow occupants to escape, they often help reduce the extent of damage and property loss.
- When a fire starts, the heat from the fire activates the sprinkler closest to the fire, limiting fire growth. In some instances, sprinklers will actually put out the fire before firefighters arrive. By limiting or stopping fire growth, further property damage, including that caused by streams of high-pressure water from fire department hoses, also is prevented.
Stand-alone sprinkler systems use a dedicated water supply held in place by check valves. While they may require some type of annual maintenance by a professional if they incorporate a testable backflow device, routine maintenance can be done by the homeowner.
Reliability and effectiveness of sprinkler systems recently were studied by the National Fire Protection Association in the report, U.S. Experience with Sprinklers and Other Automatic Fire Extinguishing Equipment. (PDF) Core findings from that January 2009 study include:
For more information about residential sprinkerls, see the Residential Fire Sprinklers report posted on IBHS’ web site at www.DisasterSafety.org: this paper examines a variety of issues around home sprinkler installation and use.
“When it comes to residential sprinklers, the marginal costs of installation seem well worth the tremendous benefits that can be achieved by greatly increasing life safety for families and firefighter. These provisions were extensively debated over many years, and research and real world usage in homes across the country prove that the decision to add sprinklers to the residential code was a good one. It would be a shame to see Florida move away from safer homes,” Rochman concluded.
