Builders oppose home fire-sprinkler requirement

Area builders lined up Thursday to oppose the adoption of a new building code requiring them to install fire sprinklers in new homes.

During a public meeting with state officials, construction industry representatives say the added cost of residential fire sprinklers would make homes more expensive at a time when the housing market already is hurting.

"As an industry, give us time to prepare for this, gear up for it," said Tony Hill, a construction supervisor for Northwest Montana Human Resources.

The International Code Council (a nonprofit that develops model building codes used by many state, city, and county governments' updated its 2009 International Residential Code to include mandatory fire sprinklers in the construction of new single-family homes, two-family homes and townhouses by 2011.

The state will decide in July whether to adopt, reject, modify or delay the implementation of the fire-sprinkler requirement, according to David Cook, chief of the Department of Labor and Industry's Building Codes Bureau.

In the meantime, state officials have been visiting Montana cities to gather public comments.

Builders oppose the fire-sprinkler requirement despite the fact that it raises the price of a home, making the builder more money, said George Culpepper Jr., Flathead Building Association Government Affairs director.

"It's not about their personal paycheck, it's about the public they serve having affordable housing," Culpepper said.

Installing a residential fire-sprinkler system costs between $1.50 and $3 per square foot, but also comes with hidden costs, including annual maintenance, repairs, water hook-up fees, increased impact fees and larger water mains. Homes that rely on water wells present an entirely different set of challenges.

"I just don't think the timing could be worse to implement… this costly and burdensome regulation," Kalispell Chamber of Commerce President Joe Unterreiner said.

The number of house fires across the country has been steadily decreasing over the last decade, largely due to better building codes and safety measures.

But the goal has always been to get people out of a structure safely, said Terry Kramer of the contracting firm Kramer Enterprises.

"We can do that in our construction methods without adding the sprinkler system," he said. "We are for fire safety as builders. The old houses, there's the problem."

If a fire occurs in a home where the fire-sprinkler system isn't working, and the resident knows it, it could trigger an exclusion in their insurance policy, said John Agnew, a certified insurance counselor. Homeowners don't always have the money to immediately repair a problem and aren't always on top of maintenance, he said.

"There are so many little fingers and tentacles to this thing it's just unbelievable," Agnew said.

Two people, one a sprinkler industry representative, spoke in favor of residential fire-sprinkler requirements. Proponents say adopting the new code would save lives and property.

Kalispell city officials who attended the meeting, including Mayor Pam Kennedy, Planning Director Tom Jentz, Fire Chief Dan Diehl, and council member Duane Larson, spoke in favor of fire safety but opposed adopting the fire-sprinkler requirement at this time.

"You can't set a price on human life, but you have to consider the word 'reasonable,'" said Larson, a former Kalispell fire chief.

Jentz voiced concern that adopting the new building codes, which most likely wouldn't be enforced outside city limits, would encourage people to build outside Kalispell and provide a counter-incentive for fire safety measures.

Diehl - who presented fire data from Scottsdale, Ariz,, which passed a residential fire-sprinkler ordinance in 1986 - strongly advocated an increased emphasis on fire safety and prevention despite his stance against the new code.

"The apathy related to fire in this country is incredible, and it's no different here in the Flathead," he said.

Mandatory fire sprinklers would raise the cost of a new home, making it more difficult to build affordable housing.

"As soon as you start tacking on annual maintenance costs and annual energy costs, it pretty much brings that family back down to their knees," said Patti Gregerson, executive director of Flathead Valley Habitat for Humanity. "By moving in this direction, you're going to limit the number of homes we can build."

Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com