Congratulations Joe!! We have lost our battle here in SD. It is now a foregone
conclusion. We will regroup and come back with more resolve, a better plan and
a better understanding of their approach next year. Kudos to Kansas!
Rod DiBona
Vice President
Rapid Fire Protection
605-348-2342 office
605-348-0108 fax
605-391-3553 cell
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Joe Heinrich
Sent: Friday, February 19, 2010 9:04 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: Builders get revote on bill banning local sprinkler laws
But the good guys eventually prevailed. Following is a summary from the
article.
Sprinkler ban falls
A sharply divided House voted down Friday a bill that would have prohibited
city and county governments from ordering installation of fire sprinklers in
residential buildings with four or fewer living units.
The chamber voted 60-62 against House Bill 2515, which was opposed by
firefighter groups and local government officials. It was endorsed by
mobile-home manufacturers, builders and Realtors.
Debate boiled down to whether the added cost of installing a
fire-suppression system in new homes would weaken recovery of industries
involved in construction and housing. In addition, questions were raised
about the Legislature overriding authority of local units of government.
Joe Heinrich
Bamford Fire Sprinkler Co., Inc.
1383 W. North St. - Salina, KS
Ph. (785) 825-7710 Fax (785) 825-0667
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of John Drucker
Sent: Friday, February 19, 2010 5:36 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: FW: Builders get revote on bill banning local sprinkler laws
Builders get revote on bill banning local sprinkler laws
BY DION LEFLER
The Wichita Eagle
TOPEKA - A day after losing on a tie vote, builders and their supporters in
the state House of Representatives won a revote on a bill that would
prohibit local governments from mandating fire sprinklers in homes and small
apartment buildings.
Firefighters, cities and counties appeared to have fought House Bill 2515 to
a standstill Wednesday when it went down to defeat in a 59-59 tie.
But today, Rep. Scott Schwab, R-Olathe, moved to reconsider the bill.
On the revote, it passed 65-55.
The bill would prohibit cities and counties from passing building codes that
require fire sprinklers in residential buildings of four units or less.
Schwab's call for reconsideration puts him at odds with the firefighters
from his hometown of Olathe, who strongly opposed the bill.
The decision also was at odds with his feeling about protecting local
control, but lawmakers had to protect the state economy, he said.
"You don't want a city passing civil code that can jeopardize the economy of
the entire state," he said. "That is when the state has to come in and put
in certain ceiling to protect the good of the entire state."
Before Wednesday's vote, Olathe firefighters and a representative of the
state Firefighters Association stood outside the House chamber handing
legislators orange fliers urging them to reject HB 2515. Olathe and Parsons
were mentioned in the debate as two cities that have already passed
requirements for fire sprinklers in triplexes and quadplexes.
Ron Ewing of the Firefighters Association said the trend is to require
sprinklers in new construction because of increased use of lightweight and
composite materials.
Older wood-built homes could burn for about 20 minutes before they began to
collapse. With new homes, that "burn time" shortens to five minutes because
of the different materials used, he said.
Proponents of the bill included the state associations for Realtors,
builders and mobile-home manufacturers. They argued that requiring
sprinklers would add thousands of dollars to the cost of new homes and slow
their industries' recovery from the recession.
In addition to the firefighters, opponents included associations of cities
and counties that argued that sprinklers save lives and that a state law
restricting their building codes would infringe on local home-rule powers.
http://www.kansas.com/news/story/1188614.html
John Drucker, CET
Fire Protection Subcode Official
Fire/Building/Electrical Inspector
Fire Marshals Office
Borough of Red Bank, NJ
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