Insurance Discussion

Roger Hawks, director of the Tennessee Fire Service and Codes Enforcement Academy on Unionville-Deason Road, shows a residential sprinkler system installed in the school’s codes prop house, which is used to train building inspectors. The system uses sprinkler heads like those familiar from commercial buildings. When heat triggers one of the sprinkler heads, the red box, a flow detector, activates an alarm bell. It can also be set up to notify the homeowner’s home security system. (T-G Photo by John I. Carney)

Shelbyville has adopted the 2009 International Building Codes, but specifically exempted itself from the section of that code which would require fire protection sprinkler systems on new one-family and two-family homes.Bedford County is on track to do exactly the same, based on a recommendation from Bedford County Planning Commission which will be considered next month by Bedford County Board of Commissioners.

Proponents say that residential sprinkler systems can save lives, and that communities which have required them for a long time, like Scottsdale, Ariz., and Prince George’s County, Md., have seen benefits in terms of lives and property saved.

Opponents say that they would unduly increase the cost of buying a new home, especially in rural areas where there’s not sufficient water pressure to run the systems directly from the water main, meaning a tank and pump must be installed.

Ed Antosh of the county’s codes enforcement office told planners last month that a sprinkler system, plus a tank, pump and backflow preventer and all of the assorted paperwork and labor, could add $6,000 to the cost of a home.

Wayne Waggoner of the Tennessee Fire Sprinkler Contractors Association disputes that figure, saying that in Tennessee, the cost of adding residential sprinkler systems ranges from 90 cents to $1.25 per square foot, considerably less than the national average of $1.61 per square foot.

“I don’t know a home in the State of Tennessee that it’s added $6,000 to,” said Waggoner.

“It’s not cost-prohibitive to put a tank and a pump in,” said Waggoner, estimating the cost of a tank and pump at between $900 and $1,200.

Residential fire protection sprinkler head (T-G Photo by John I. Carney)

Shop around

Brian Nicholson of Shelbyville Fire Department said he’s spoken with homeowners about residential sprinkler systems and found that they are sometimes quoted a higher-than-expected price. He said the contractor may be quoting the price for a standard commercial sprinkler system, which is more expensive than the residential system required by code, or the contractor may simply not be enthusiastic about residential business and may be quoting an artificially-high price just to discourage it. He said those who shop around and who make it clear they are interested in a 13D residential sprinkler system can find better prices.

Nicholson told Waggoner that there are only four residential sprinkler contractors listed at TFSCA’s web site for this area; Waggoner said that was out of date and he would see that the web site would be updated.

Backflow prevention

The cost of the backflow prevention portion of any sprinkler project depends on how the local water utility interprets state and federal backflow regulations. Wayne Cook of Shelbyville Power, Water and Sewerage System said that water utilities are caught between water quality regulations and code requirements. The state has rules requiring local water systems to prevent backflow, the process of standing water from the customer’s water system being pushed back into the public water lines. Different water systems have different requirements for how that must be accomplished on the water customer’s end, and what type of equipment must be used.

Waggoner said that backflow prevention for a residential sprinkler system should not be expensive.

Homeowners who add residential sprinklers to their new home could end up saving money on their homeowners’ insurance, according to Waggoner. He said insurance companies offer discounts of anywhere from 5 percent to 30 percent, although in some cases that discount is based on installation of a commercial-style sprinkler system. Waggoner said insurance companies have promised to begin recognizing the residential systems as well.

Nicholson claimed that some insurance companies actually penalize building owners for sprinkler systems, fearing that the sprinkler system will burst or malfunction and cause water damage. Waggoner said that was true in the past but should not be happening anymore. He said insurance carriers recognize the value of sprinkler systems in protecting property.

It is true that, in subdivisions where 100 percent of the homes have residential sprinkler systems, the Insurance Services Office doesn’t require as much water flow for fire hydrants when it sets ratings for fire protection. That could result in a better ISO rating for an all-sprinkled subdivision, and a better ISO rating translates into lower homeowners’ insurance premiums for homeowners in that subdivision.

Counting the cost

Nicholson said that lighter-weight building materials now being used to save money in building construction can be more prone to fire. Waggoner said that 118 firefighters are killed in the line of duty each year, over and above the lives of homeowners lost.

According to a press release at the TFSCA web site, a 15-year study of Prince George’s County, Md., a suburb of Washington, D.C. with a population of more than 800,000, seems to show benefits from residential sprinkler requirements adopted there in 1992. From 1992 to 2007, the period covered by the study, there were no deaths and only six injuries in fires at places where a residential sprinkler system was installed.

Waggoner predicted that at some point in the future, a city or county which has adopted the building codes but exempted itself from the residential sprinkler requirements will have a fatal fire resulting in a lawsuit.

Waggoner said that he understands the impact of the current economy on homebuilders, but he said homeowners don’t look at the cost of household plumbing or other normal components when buying a house; they simply understand that the cost of plumbing is part of the cost of buying a home.

“We’re talking about something that’s really morally right,” Waggoner said.

Bedford County Board of Commissioners will consider adopting the 2009 edition of the International Building Code, including whether or not to exempt the county from the residential sprinkler requirement, at its Feb. 9 meeting.

Local decisions about whether or not to require the sprinklers may eventually turn out to be a moot point. Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance is studying the cost and effectiveness of such systems and is due to report to the state legislature in May. A public comment period on the issue was held last year.