Sprinkler debate far from cut and dried

DES MOINES (AP) — Intense lobbying has begun in Iowa over a new state building code that will require fire sprinklers in new one-family and two-family homes starting in 2013.

Fire safety advocates say installing sprinklers during construction of houses, duplexes and town houses will save Iowans' lives.

But homebuilders say the requirement will inflate building costs and hamper Iowa's housing market as it struggles to emerge from recession.

Builders want Iowa lawmakers to use their authority to override the state building commissioner's decision before it goes into effect.

“We're not talking 10,000-square-foot fancy homes here,” said Craig Schoenfeld, a lobbyist for the Iowa Home Builders Association. “We're talking the 1,400-square-foot split ranch that we're trying to sell for $80,000 in Colfax or wherever and suddenly it's approaching $100,000.”

An Iowa Building Code Bureau official says one fact has been lost in the debate: Local building codes, not state code, dictate the rules for most new residential housing construction in Iowa. That means the majority of new homes would be subject to the requirement only if cities and counties follow the state's lead.

The debate in Iowa mimics one playing out in states across the country over a new national model code.

The International Code Council, a membership association, is calling for sprinklers to be included in the construction of all new town houses starting Jan. 1, 2010, and in one- and two-family homes starting Jan. 1, 2011.

Most states traditionally honor updates to the national model but can choose to ignore parts or tweak it. Iowa is one of a handful of states whose regulators have already adopted it. Homebuilders say sprinkler systems inflate building costs by about $7 a square foot. Fire safety advocates contend the average cost per square foot is $1.61.

State building code officials favor the sprinkler mandate, as does the Iowa Association of Professional Fire Chiefs. The association says sprinklers are needed to prevent property damage and fatalities in new homes because of the more lightweight, fast-burning materials used.

“Smoke detectors aren't enough,” said West Des Moines Fire Chief Don Cox.

A fact sheet from the fire chiefs group says: “When smoke alarms alone are installed in a residence, a reduction in the death rate of 63 percent can be expected. When both smoke alarms and fire sprinklers are present in a home, the risk of dying in a fire is reduced by 82 percent.”

Ten Iowa communities already have some sort of sprinkler mandate for one- and two-family homes: Altoona, Ankeny, Clive, Des Moines, Granger, Grimes, Johnston, Norwalk, Urbandale and West Des Moines.

But those codes do not necessarily apply to all new construction. West Des Moines, for example, requires sprinklers only for new homes that are more than 8,000 square feet.

Stuart Crine, Iowa's building code commissioner, adopted the state mandate in October. State residential building code applies to state-owned projects — such as a park ranger's house or a university president's house — and in local areas that have adopted the state code.

Crine can initiate new rules, but an advisory council can veto or amend them.

The advisory council — composed of a city building official, an architect, a fire chief, a homebuilder, a university public safety official and others — postponed the start date of the requirement this past fall to give itself three years to examine the cost and effectiveness of sprinkler requirements in other states, said Mike Coveyou, an administrator in the State Building Code Bureau.

But the Iowa Home Builders Association wants action now.

The group has persuaded lawmakers in both parties to introduce legislation that would block state, county and local requirements for home fire sprinklers, said Schoenfeld, a lobbyist for the builders.

“We see this as a significant enough economic threat to our industry that it warrants the attention of policymakers,” Schoenfeld said.

In 2008, the association's political action committee gave $22,450 to candidates for the Iowa Legislature, campaign disclosure reports show.

Colin King of K&V Homes Inc. in Waukee said not one buyer of the more than 100 homes the company built in the last decade wanted sprinklers.

“It's just the horrendous cost, and everybody's scared of what happens if they malfunction, with all the water damage,” King said.

Sen. Jack Hatch, D-Des Moines, who is a housing developer, said he hopes the Iowa Legislature will veto the sprinkler requirement.

Rep. Erik Helland, R-Grimes, said he will support a bill that would prevent sprinkler mandates at all levels of government.

“It's an economic issue,” Helland said. “It makes building a home far more expensive. We're not taking away the ability to install sprinklers. You'd still have that option. It just prevents the cost of building homes from going up.”

Helland said he's comfortable with lawmakers superseding the authority of both the building code council and local governments.

“It's rare that you want to usurp local control, but once in a while it just makes sense,” he said.

Sen. Jeff Danielson, D-Waterloo, who is a professional firefighter in Cedar Falls, said the two sides in the debate have taken “extreme positions.”

“That every new residential home should have a sprinkler, I think that's going way too far,” Danielson said, “but precluding any community from even looking at an ordinance to suit their needs is not good public policy.”

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