Christyhicks

As a licensed plumbing/hvac contractor doing a fair amount of new construction, I would would benefit from this code requirement. HOWEVER, I strongly disagree with it and hope that our state will adopt the 2009 codes without accepting it in "whole", as has been predicted.

We are seeing a disturbing trend in ICC, whereas they have moved from a primary purpose of specifying and unifying installation and materials to eliminate unsafe and improper practices, to dictating energy policy in this country, and now possibly to requiring systems in new homes, bypassing local and state governments, much less federal laws and due process. We thought they had over-reached their position when they dictated energy policy by requiring minimum insulation and energy standards, something normally reserved for a federal agency. Now, ICC< without following channels of local, state and federal lawmaking, have dictated a huge change that will have financial implications for many, many years.

No one disputes that saving lives is important, but we also have to acknowledge that our current system of lawmaking allows for a thorough examination of potential "laws" in order to allow for not only cost analysis, but also for unintended consquences of each law. Some "life-saving" proposals result in unintended consequences.

In our area of the country, new home prices start at under $100,000, so a $2,500 price tag is actually 2 1/2%. Insurance savings will translate into a payback of about 20 years. To suggest that insurance discounts will promptly pay for the system is just not likely. A much better investment would be to use those 2 1/2 points to buy down the interest rate. How many are killed in house fires inside, oh, let's say, 10 yr old homes? Anyone know?

But, initial construction costs are not my concern. We've seen numerous times where power has been out in neighborhoods for extended periods of time. Often, a house will not freeze the plumbing during a short power outage, because of the ability to hold the heat. However, if the sprinkler lines are in the attic, freezing is most CERTAINLY an issue, ESPECIALLY in the new, well insulated houses. Why in the world are we required to completely insulated the flue and drain pipes on 90%+ furnaces where they are exposed to attic temperatures if freezing were NOT an issue?????? The use of laminated beams and TJI's also limit routing of lines, often requiring that the penetration be at least a couple of inches above the sheetrock line of a ceiling. This is my experience in Oklahoma. What about northern climates?

As the contractor, what is MY liability for failure of a sprinkler head or unintended discharge of water? We had one, count-em, ONE large claim against our company for a city sewer backup, on a sewer service, one that was inspected and approved as installed. The homeowners were out of town for two weeks so the house "percolated" for that entire time. The claim, when finally settled, was for almost $100,000, (most of which was paid by our insurance company)and although we paid many times over that in premiums through the years with that company, they refused to renew us upon expiration of our liability policy, forcing us to shop insurnace coverage with a recent large claim on our record. We may see discounts on homeowner's policies, but in the long run, what will happen to ours?

What if, during construction, another contractor nicks one of our pex lines? Who will pay when that line blows out? What if a sprinkler head FAILS to open when it should? Who will be liable? We know that smoke detectors save lives, without large upfront costs and they are inexpensive to replace. Will homeowners become so dependant on the belief that a sprinkler system will save them that they will quit checking batteries and keeping fire extinquishers in the kitchen? Most kitchen fires are grease fires? Will they assume that a water sprinkler system in their home will save them? How many will die of smoke inhalation because they didn't check their smoke detectors, and a smoldering fire didn't build the heat to activate a sprinkler head?

So many of our code requirements are really to save dumb people from hurting themselves. . . raising water heaters, using pipes to provide combustion air to water heater closets. . all designed to keep people from doing dumb things like sealing up their water heater closet or storage or spillage of fuel near the water heater. Numerous warnings did NOT keep this from happening, so we changed the code. Will sprinkler systems increase smoke related deaths because homeowners are basically dumb and lazy?

Who knows. That's the point. Local, state, and federal legislation is subjected to public scrutiny and review, with all aspects examined and challenged, allowing input from the general public, along with local and national professionals. To suggest that rules passed at ICC conferences are subject to the same open scrutiny is simply not realistic. This "rule" needed true open review and debate before being put into place. IMHO