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I know that residential sprinklers is a little off my usually topic, but I ran across a story on Firehouse.com about a new law in Pennsylvania. Sprinklers will be required in all new single-family homes in Pennsylvania starting January 1, 2011. The full story is located here: thepittsburghchannel.com
My concern is the huge numbers being thrown around about the cost of a residential sprinkler system that are not real. Leave it to a builder to start throwing around huge numbers to scare off home buyers about residential sprinklers. Forget that the insurance savings more than offsets the initial costs of a system when amortized over 30 years.
Jim Eichenlaub, who is the executive director of the Builders Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh (go figure!) stated the cost at $8,000 to put in a sprinkler system. I checked the USFA website for some cost information and found the info below:
At the present time, cost of a home sprinkler system is targeted at approximately $1.00 to $1.50 per square foot in new construction. It is hoped that the cost will decrease as the use of home fire protection grows. It is also possible to retrofit existing homes with sprinkler systems.
Numbers as large as $15k to $30k for residential sprinkler systems are mentioned! Just remember, most builders are trying to save as much money aspossible during construction. They especially love using the cheap lightweight building materials that threaten our brothers and sisters everyday! What are your thoughts?
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