—
When Dennis Reedy was at the Central Susquehanna Builders Association annual Home Show in Bloomsburg last week, he faced a frequent question about Pennsylvania’s recently enacted sprinkler law.
Will it stay or will it go?
“That was the common talk with the general public,” said Reedy, production manager for Expert Home Builders in Northumberland. “I think right now, quite a few people are on the fence to see if it gets revoked or not. There is quite a bit of talk about it, and you don’t hear a lot of positive talk.”
The controversial law that went into effect March 1 requires sprinkler systems in all new residential construction. Some speculate this could add up to $15,000 to the cost of a new home and end up crippling the already weak economic recovery.
Wednesday in Harrisburg, the state House of Representatives debated a bill referred from the Labor and Industry Committee that would essentially make the sprinkler requirement optional.
The bill debated Wednesday was co-sponsored by local representatives Fred Keller, R-85 of Kreamer, Kurt Masser, R-107 of Elysburg, and Lynda Schlegel Culver, R-108 of Sunbury. It will be up for a final vote Monday.
Regardless of the Monday vote, the bill still must make it through the state Senate, where similar bills are under consideration.
Meanwhile, there is evidence buyers were in a rush to get their homes under way before the sprinkler law went into effect.
Though statistics for Pennsylvania aren’t readily available, the number of new home building permits nationally in November and December came in higher than predicted, particularly in the Northeast. Some analysts, as well as the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, suggest the sprinkler law had something to do with it.
The number of building permits issued for single-family homes was 3 percent higher in November than the month previous. In December, the number was 5.5 percent higher than November.
But things fell in January, after the law took effect. In fact, the number of single-family home building permits issued was 4.8 percent below the number issued in December.
Reedy said that statistic is telling, especially when you keep in mind interest rates on home loans are at an all-time low and have been for years.
“The (building) code has changed three times since 2004,” he said, “and that had zero impact on traffic. I think when you get to this level, because of the dollars associated with installing these sprinkler systems, I think it did have an impact on the public’s view.”
Though Pennsylvania’s housing industry normally is slow in January and February, Mark Bittner, director of sales and marketing for Fine Line Homes, which has an office in Lewisburg, suspects consumers know what they’re doing.
“A number of people signed on to build in 2010 to avoid sprinklers,” he said. “Some decided to build (this year) with sprinklers, but the majority seem to be taking wait and see.”
Because of the volume of business it does, Fine Line has been able to spread the increased cost of sprinklers out and lessened the impact on customers, Bittner said.
“It does save lives,” he said.
So he figures more people would move forward with their plans for homes, whether there are sprinklers required or not.
“It seems either way, people are waiting to see what happens,” he said. “This limbo status is more hurtful than having the sprinklers.”
Interviewed on the state House floor Wednesday, local lawmakers said they support making the sprinkler requirement optional.
“We don’t want to make it harder on new home owners,” Masser said. “I came down here to represent the constituents of my district. and I just don’t want to make anything harder on them.”
Garth Everett, R-84, of Muncy, who sponsored the bill, said it comes down to common sense.
“In small-town Pennsylvania, some of our municipalities’ water systems cannot support the (sprinkler systems),” he said. “Why make home owners spend up to $15,000 when they shouldn’t have to?”
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