Mary Sampsel, chief building official and assistant engineer for Union County, said history was made in September 2008 when 73 percent of the voting members of the International Code Council (ICC) supported mandatory fire sprinkler systems in one- and two-family dwellings.

The outcome of the code hearings, according to Sampsel, will be incorporated into the 2009 International Residential Code (IRC).

It has a provision in it for residential sprinklers for new construction starting in 2011.

Ohio will consider adopting the 2009 IRC in 2010 and has the option of modifying, eliminating or accepting the proposed code changes.

Billy Phillips, executive secretary at the Board of Building Standards, told Sampsel on April 27 that the next Residential Construction Advisory Committee (RCAC) meeting will be on May 27. At that time, she said, a schedule will be set for hearings to adopt the new code, which includes residential sprinklers. The effective tentative date for adopting the new code is July 1, 2010.

"It's only for single-family homes," said Sampsel, "so if you put an addition onto an existing home, you would not have to retrofit. We had two homes in Union County that chose to put in a residential sprinkler system."

Both home-owners, she said, reside in rural areas, and they had to put in their own tank and pump system. She said a 400-gallon tank has to be located in the basement to supply the water.

"The design is for a 10-minute flow," she said. The idea is to give people an opportunity to escape the house in case of fire.

Homeowners in the city have to pay a tap fee, according to Sampsel.

One local homeowner who installed the system worked for a company that provides special systems designed for fires.

"So he was able to get it pretty much at cost," she said. "Our cost estimate on our application for that was about $3.50 per square foot of area provided. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) said it was more like $12 per foot. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) says it is supposed to be $1.61 per square foot, so it depends on who you ask."

Home builders are definitely against it, according to Sampsel. She said they are of the opinion that it drives their costs up and reduces the number of people who will buy new homes.

Vince Squillace agreed. He is executive vice president of the Building Industry Association (BIA) of Central Ohio.

"It's not normal to have a sprinkler system in a house to begin with," he said, explaining that it does not compare to air-conditioning and heating systems. "They are rare in residential construction."

It is new technology, according to Squillace, which will result in substantial design issues and significant costs. He said there are more questions than answers with no hard-core fire death data to show the need for sprinklers in homes.

Sampsel said fire officials fully support the concept, which has been required of residents of Scottsdale, Ariz., since 1986.

Squillace said Scottsdale is not the typical United States city.

The one resident of Union County to have it installed in his home, according to Sampsel, is disabled.

"So for him, he saw a definite need for it," she said. "The other guy, I don't know why he chose to do it. It was just an option."

Squillace said he thinks it should remain an option, rather than being mandated.

He expressed frustration that an effective tentative date for adopting the new code has been set when the hearings have not been held.

"Going into it, I was really not for it," Sampsel said.

Then after viewing a presentation, she said, she is a little more open-minded about the residential sprinklers.

"I would prefer it if it was something optional," she said, "until the public really buys into it as opposed to making it mandatory, especially in the housing market and where it's at today."

She said the residential systems are not as elaborate as commercial sprinklers.

With regular fire suppression systems in commercial buildings, Sampsel said, if the sprinklers go off, it automatically notifies the fire departments or monitoring systems, but that will not be the case with the residential systems.

They are not required for garages, attics, crawl spaces, small bathrooms, attached spaces or storage closets.

catwogan@yahoo.com