Folks, it is obvious that the builders association does not care about whether or not somebody lives through a fire in one of their matchbox homes. The rebuilding of burned out homes in the United States is a multibillion dollar industry, you heard that right...multibillion (with a B), who would want to retire that cash cow? The awful truth of the matter is that, there is an enormous pool of money and a vast amount of resources at the beck and call of a huge, complex organization of individuals whose primary concern is how much money they can acquire, regardless of the cost to human life. Until we become as organized and unified in our resolve to fight back and expose the truth, we are destined to fail to sway people. Apathy seems to be rampant in our ranks, as soon as we suffer a minor setback, we have a tendency to recede into our boroughs to lick our wounds and commiserate about our loss... (at least we do this over a beer or two). What we should be doing, is generati ng momentum for a slingshot attack back at the opposition. When the Pennsylvania governor struck down the 2009 IRC here in Pa., we should have been in front of every news station in Pennsylvania showing the lies propagated by the HBA and the people behind them... graphic images and stories from the families and survivors of people who died horrible wretched deaths in these fires. And this should have been done against the background of the speeches and statements of the HBA officials. At a fairly recent Home Show in York Pennsylvania, I had the opportunity to join with one of Viking manufacturers national sales managers at their booth. During my time there, I made an effort to talk with just about every builder who showed up. I was amazed at the consistency of information that was being channeled through these folks (HBA folks).. it was as though they had a canned response for every question that I asked them. They insisted that sprinklers would cost on average of $15 ,000-$20,000 per average sized home (2500 sq ft), they insisted that sprinklers leak the "majority of the time" and caused water damage, they insisted that smoke detectors are just as effective and even had "data" to prove their point. The bottom line is, if we ever hope to change the law, we need to change the rhetoric. The Home Builders Association needs to be exposed and held accountable for their irresponsible statements and behavior. The most interesting comment I heard at that particular Home Show I was telling you about, this came from an old Heritage builder who had more money (and wrinkles) than most countries, he said, "Ya know why we don't want sprinklers mister? Because I don't want somebody telling me how much I can charge for what I put in my homes, plain and simple" now at least that was an honest answer.
My two cents... Chris Ice Fire Protection & Industrial Consultant Hajoca Corporation 1418 Fruitville Pike Lancaster, Pa. 17601 717-770-9211 mobile 717-299-3611 office "Great people, providing quality products that help save lives" -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Failla, Daniel Sent: Thursday, October 10, 2013 2:49 PM To: '[email protected]' Subject: RE: "Sprinkler law dampens area construction" The building contractor associations must not care about the outcome when a fire occurs. http://www.live5news.com/story/23652633/fire-sprinkler-system-saves-downtown-apartment-building Sincerely Daniel S. Failla Jr. Assistant Fire Marshal Charleston Fire Department Fire Marshal Division Preservation Through Prevention Office - 843 - 724 - 5960 Email: [email protected] -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jim Kettler Sent: Thursday, October 10, 2013 8:23 AM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: "Sprinkler law dampens area construction" Apparently they've forgotten this? http://www.securitysystemsnews.com/article/home-sprinkler-requirements-don-t-dampen-housing-starts "....Statistics on the website of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) show single-family home building permits increased on average by 28 percent in the United States between April 2012 and April 2013, but California experienced a 55 percent increase in permits in the same period...." Jim K. James M. Kettler, EFO, CFPS Director of Building and Codes/Fire Marshal PO Box 413 4613 Hughesian Drive Buckingham, PA 18912 215.794.8836 (office) _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler.org _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler.org Confidentiality Notice: Information in this message, including any attachments, is intended only for the personal and confidential use of the recipient(s) above named. The information contained in this message may be privileged and confidential, may constitute a trade secret, may be subject to the attorney-client privilege and may otherwise be protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, or an agent responsible for delivering it to an intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this message in error, and that any review, dissemination, disclosure, distribution, or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately, delete this message and destroy any hard copy print-outs. We have taken precautions to minimize the risk of transmitting software viruses, but we advise you to carry your own virus checks on any attachment to this message. We ca nnot accept liability for any loss or damage caused by software viruses. _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler.org
