Too bad they didn't say these things about a person. There'd be cause for a libel suit.
On Fri, Jul 10, 2009 at 7:17 AM, Maag, Barry<[email protected]> wrote: > Hello All, > > > > I just received an e-mail this morning that contained blatant lies about > fire sprinklers made by the Virginia home builders association. I copied > the text below directly from the Virginia Home Builders Association > website. I can send a direct link if anyone is interested. > > > > > > 10 Reasons Why Mandating Fire Sprinklers > > Makes No Sense For Virginia > > > > The International Code Commission (ICC), at its September 2008 meeting, > voted to mandate the installation of fire sprinklers in all > newly-constructed one and two-family > > homes. Because states have the option of removing some or all of the ICC > codes when they adopt their building codes, Virginia may choose not to > mandate installation of fire > > sprinklers. > > > > The home building industry believes that mandating fire sprinklers is > not a good idea. Sprinklers should be an option that potential home > buyers may request should they choose to install a system. There are 10 > persuasive reasons that back up our conclusion. Statistics show today's > better built homes are saving lives. From 1979-2003 the death rate per > million persons from house fires dropped 58 percent, according to the > U.S. Centers for Disease Control. That trend will continue as more new > housing stock is built, stronger building codes are enacted and > especially as smoke alarm maintenance by homeowners improves. > > > > Sprinklers are rarely needed for house fires. Sprinkler proponents claim > that a residential system is reliable in 96-99 percent of all reported > structure fires where the fire was large enough to activate the system. > But reports from the National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA) show > that the number of fires that occur in one- and two-family dwellings > equipped with sprinklers are so few that they are not shown in studies > done by the organization. > > > > Sprinklers cause unintended damage. Statistics from the Virginia Fire > Incident Reporting System show that 76.8 percent of all fires in > Virginia from 2000 through 2008 either did not spread or were confined > to an object or a room and contained. But when sprinklers detect smoke > they set off every sprinkler in the house, not just in the room where > the fire is occurring. In many homes that suffer a fire where working > sprinklers exist there is more water damage to the home than fire > damage. > > > > Home insurance rates do not decrease with their use. Sprinkler > proponents claim the cost of home insurance decreases when you install > fire sprinklers. It's true that some states offer insurance credits for > having fire sprinklers in the home. Using a conservative sprinkler cost > estimate of $1.50 per square foot in a 2,300-square-foot home with an > annual property insurance rate of $1,000, it would take approximately 35 > years for a 10 percent credit to pay for the system. Insurance agents in > the Richmond area say credits rarely are given above 3.5 percent. Throw > in maintenance costs and it would take even longer for the credit to pay > its due for the system. > > > > However, that does not offset the increased costs charged for potential > water damage and flooding. In most cases sprinklers go off in areas of > the home where fire is not occurring, causing more claims for water > damage than fire damage. Virginia insurance agents say this drives the > cost of insurance higher for people who have sprinkler systems. > > > > Smoke alarms potentially save more lives than sprinklers. A 2006 study > by the U.S. Fire Association (USFA) on the presence of working smoke > alarms in residential fires from 2001-2004 showed that 88 percent of the > fatal fires in single-family homes occurred where there were no working > smoke alarms. USFA and NFPA data continue to show that the vast majority > of home fire fatalities occur when there are no operational smoke > alarms. The most recent NFPA report on smoke alarms estimates that more > than 890 lives could be saved annually if every home had a working smoke > alarm. From 2000-2004, 65 percent of the fire fatalities reported > occurred in homes where smoke alarms were not present or were present > and did not operate. > > > > Sprinklers will harm efforts at providing affordable housing statewide. > According to an August 2006 survey of home builders done by the National > Association of Home Builders' Research Center, the average sprinkler > system costs $2.66 per square foot to install in a new home. For the > average home size considered to be affordable housing in Virginia - > 1,800 to 2,200 square feet - the maximum cost would be approximately > $5,850. In the Richmond area, about 710 families lose the ability to > qualify for a new home mortgage with each $1,000 increase in the price > of a new home. Mandating fire sprinklers would keep more than 4,100 > families from being able to buy affordable housing in the Richmond area. > > > > A hard-wired, interconnected smoke alarm system installed through the > whole house costs about $50 per alarm. > > > > You may have heard of the "Scottsdale study," which sprinkler proponents > are using to claim sprinklers do not harm affordable housing. They claim > sprinklers can be installed for as little as $1 per square foot. In > Scottsdale, AZ, where the Scottsdale study was done; these units can be > installed for $1 per square foot. But Scottsdale has some of the least > expensive building costs in America. Therefore, the Scottsdale study is > not reflective of the average cost for installation nationwide. > > > > Sprinklers are much more difficult and time consuming to maintain than > smoke alarms. Homeowners have a difficult time remembering to change the > batteries in their smoke alarms once every six months. A sprinkler > system requires much more maintenance than simply replacing batteries. > Based on the problems with maintaining smoke detectors, it is easy to > deduce that homeowners will not maintain sprinkler systems at the level > required for them to be at maximum efficiency. More lives can be saved > by educating the public to the importance of maintaining hard-wired, > interconnected smoke alarms in proper operating condition than through > mandating fire sprinklers. > > > > Sprinklers can be damaged by extreme cold, causing water damage. Should > a home lose power for several days, as occurred in some parts of the > Richmond area during the early > > March snowstorm, the basins that hold water for sprinkler use can freeze > and burst. Homeowners most likely would have to take measures to keep > heat in the water basins, further increasing the cost that many rural > Virginians can't afford. > > > > Sprinklers in homes on well water have additional problems. Owners will > have to calculate how the system will work if power goes out, or if the > well's water level is low enough to cause pressure problems. Extra water > tanks, pumps and generators could be purchased to help with pressure, > but that adds more cost to the system - cost many owners in rural > Virginia could not afford. > > > > Annual sprinkler installation costs will greatly exceed property losses > nationwide and in any jurisdiction where they are mandated. For example, > had this mandate been in place in > > 2005 the installation cost to builders would have been almost $10.2 > billion based on an average square-foot home with a cost of $2.66 per > square foot. The NFPA reported that the total home property loss - new > and existing homes - due to fire in 2005 was less than $5.8 billion. The > installation cost would have been nearly double the loss. As new homes > continue to be better built, the difference between installation cost > and property loss will continue to increase, and statistics show most > people forced to have these installed will never use them in their home. > > > > Barry Maag > > [email protected] > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Sprinklerforum mailing list > http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum > For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [email protected] > > To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[email protected] > (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field) > -- Ron Greenman Instructor Fire Protection Engineering Bates Technical College Tacoma, WA Member: SFPE, ASCET, NFPA, AFSA, NFSA AFAA _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [email protected] To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[email protected] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field)
