REALTOR® Magazine-Daily News-Pennsylvania Adopts Sprinkler Requirement

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Daily Real Estate News | March 9, 2010 | Pennsylvania Adopts Sprinkler Requirement
Pennsylvania will be the first state to make automatic fire sprinkler systems mandatory in all newly constructed one- and two-family houses beginning, Jan. 1, 2011.

The state updated the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code last year. The action is expected to add $1 to $1.50 per square foot to the cost of new construction.

Firefighters support the code change saying that the death rate of firefighters in sprinklered homes is 80 percent lower. And the American Insurance Association says property/casualty losses in sprinklered homes are about 45 percent to 70 percent lower compared to nonsprinklered homes.

Neither the National Association of Home Builders nor the Pennsylvania Association of REALTORS® support mandatory sprinkler systems.

"We believe that mandatory sprinklers are yet another unnecessary and expensive government mandate for Pennsylvanians," said PAR spokesperson Samantha Krepps. "Mandatory sprinklers in new one- and two-family construction will drive up new home prices in Pennsylvania and stall the recovery of the housing sector."

Source: The Associated Press, Brian C. Rittmeyer (03/08/2010)