In today’s meeting of the International Code Council (ICC) in Baltimore, Maryland, proposals made to eliminate the requirement for residential fire sprinklers in the International Residential Code (IRC) were defeated. These requirements were included in the 2009 IRC, to become effective January 1, 2011. Proposals to modify the 2012 International Residential Code included RB 54, which would have removed the mandatory requirement and made it an optional provision, RB 56, which would delete sprinkler requirements for townhomes and one- and two-family occupancies and move P2904 back to the appendix, making the requirement optional; and RB 57, which would have completely removed the sprinkler requirements from these residential occupancies.
The final action on these issues will be voted upon at the May 2010 meeting of ICC, at which only building officials and code enforcers can vote. However, today’s vote was an important win for residential fire safety because it will force homebuilders and their allies to get two-thirds vote to over-ride these sprinkler requirements at the May ICC meeting, which is considered unlikely.
From Ronny J. Coleman, President of the IRC Fire Sprinkler Coalition
Words cannot describe how great if feels to have won the sprinkler vote again in Baltimore. Even better, to our surprise, we won the committee vote by a margin of 7 to 4. EVERY member of the IRC Committee not representing NAHB voted in favor of sprinklers!
ICC’s message to residential sprinkler opponents is now very clear, “don’t come back…we’re done arguing residential sprinklers!”
We won in Minneapolis, we won the committee vote in Baltimore and we defeated (by an overwhelming majority) a floor motion by NAHB to overturn the committee vote in Baltimore. Let’s maintain this level of commitment at the state and local level so that we can get the IRC adopted “where the rubber meets the road.”
Thanks to EVERYONE who took part in and supported this historic event!!!
Gary Ozenne
Gary Ozenne October 28, 2009 at 11:22 pm
Finally, a vote that values human life over the financial interests of the few. Congratulations to Chief Coleman for his tireless work towards this goal. Great work Chief!
Stephen Jones
Stephen Jones October 29, 2009 at 5:33 am
CONGRATULATIONS to everybody that made this happen. I was great to sit in a room with about 1,700 “enthusiastic” Fire and Code Professionals who knew what it took to get the job done. I was proud to be a part of it…
There is no disputing the fact that SPRINKLERS SAVE LIVES…Nice Job, you all should be proud!
Stephen Jones, CBO
Construction Official
ICC Board of Directors Member
Kaaren Mann
Kaaren Mann October 30, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Every family whose home will be protected by fire sprinklers after 2011, and especially those people in whose houses a fire starts, will have this group to thank.
Similarly, I have often been grateful to whoever it was that invented the automobile airbag, (One saved my daughter Lauren’s life when she was eight years old and our family had an extra ten years with her as a result — until she died in a house fire.) And so there will be thousands upon thousands of people who are grateful to the IRC Sprinkler Coalition and the many wonderful men and women who voted for sprinklers in Minneapolis and Baltimore!
Kaaren Mann
Simpsonville, SC
J.W. Rymer
J.W. Rymer November 1, 2009 at 11:05 pm
This is a national outrage of hideous proportions. You zealots think you have some right to force private homeowners in single family dwellings to install sprinklers. Bull! Do not forget that 10 times as many people commit suicide, 5 times as many die in falls, and 6 times as many are murdered as die in fire. Also that 1 in 6 fires where sprinklers are present show sprinkler failure. Also that death by residential fire has gone downward by 25% over the last decade WITHOUT sprinkler code. Amazing how overzealous people can decide they have the right to spend many thousands of dollars of other people’s money! Shame on you.
Jerry Eger
Jerry Eger November 5, 2009 at 1:49 pm
I know Steve Jones did a ton of behind the scenes work to promote the idea. It’s an honor to be his friend.
Kaaren Mann
Kaaren Mann November 7, 2009 at 11:07 am
I wonder if the poster,Mr. J.W.Rymer, is just as outraged with other safeguards in America, such as airbags in cars, or the inspection of food processing plants, or the control of raw sewage into the water supply, or airplane oxygen masks and in-flight safety procedures… all of which cost (what he calls) “other people’s money” — though not house builders’ money! So I guess it’s ok by him.
Home builders consider safety features in houses to be such a completely unnecessary burden that it’s practically un-American! While I’m sure they are all in favor of safety and health standards in every other area of life, they don’t want it in theirs. No, no, no. Don’t expect THEM to adhere to standards that protect home buyers’ investment (their houses) and health and welfare!
So I guess it’s understandable that they’d make up statistics (like the one-in-six sprinkler heads being faulty) or skewing them (like saying deaths are going down, while not mentioning that it’s because advances in medical science are saving more… people who have to spend months and months in burn units, costing millions of dollars.
Perhaps home builders who put their personal profits ahead of the greater cost to society should be the ones who are ashamed.
Gary Ozenne
Gary Ozenne November 18, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Perhap’s Mr. Rymer should be outraged at the millions of dollars spent each year by the FAA and the NTSB to investigate aircraft accidents, and make rules that insure their prevention. After all flying is many times safer than driving. Even if you fall asleep.
John Pabst, C.O.
John Pabst, C.O. December 16, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Sprinklers will be a worthwhile investment in our homes.
Los Angeles fire protection
Los Angeles fire protection December 29, 2009 at 8:07 pm
Definitely worth the time and effort in educating the public about home fire sprinklers.
Smokey
Smokey January 25, 2010 at 2:25 pm
If y’all had real balls, you wouldn’t be pushing this for new construction only. Given that only ~400,000 new homes are built every year, compared to 100 million existing structures. Why are the lives of 99.6% of people living in existing homes worth less than those 400,000 rich enough to buy new homes?????????
I’d have respect if this was about protecting all homeowners, but in general, the pro-sprinkler lobby doesn’t feel strong enough about their product to ask homeowners to pay the price to retrofit…
J. W. Rymer
J. W. Rymer August 27, 2012 at 8:38 pm
You zealots for fire sprinklers never successfully refuted one single comment that I made in the 3 years since 2009. The statistics I quoted are open source, nationally documented research findings having nothing in the world to do with “home builders.” It is NOT THE HOMEBUILDERS WHO PAY THESE BILLS! It is the young family wanting a new home told by self-rightous snoops that they must buy $4K to $12K sprinkler systems for the private single family home. You cannot justify it. It is NOT comparable in any way to airbags or FAA air traffic controls. It will of course be shoved down the throats of the bill payers against their will as we come closer and closer to the totalitarian state. And we wonder why the economy struggles! Shame on you !
By the way, Smokey — the reason these zealots don’t have what you call “real balls” and try to force sprinklers in ALL dwellings, not just new, is because they know they have no chance !They know the volume of pushback, outrage and refusal to put up with this crap that you would find ! Try that move and you’ll eat it.