Local builders and real estate agents welcomed news on Tuesday that the Minnesota Court of Appeals had struck down a requirement that fire sprinklers be installed in larger homes.
Rochester Area Builders Association President John Eckerman said his organization was pleased with the court's ruling.
"This has been a big issue for us for a number of years. We believe that it was an unnecessary mandate," he said.
The court decision came after the Builders Association of the Twin Cities challenged the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry's sprinkler rule in court. That rule, which took effect in January, required sprinklers be installed in single-family homes 4,500-square-fee or larger. In its ruling, the appeals court said the 4,500-square-foot threshold for requiring sprinklers was "arbitrary and not supported by substantial evidence in the record."
The three-judge panel also said the department failed to take into the cost of complying with the new rule for small businesses and cities.
Firefighters expressed disappointed with the court's ruling. Steve Zachary, a St. Paul fire marshal representing the Minnesota State Fire Chiefs Association, said 80 percent of fire deaths occur in the home and fire sprinklers can help save lives. Zachary noted that the court was concerned with the 4,500-square-foot threshold for the requirement, not the idea of requiring fire sprinklers for all newly constructed homes, regardless of size. That's something his association has long pushed sought.
"We will continue to fight because we know residential sprinklers are very effective in saving lives and property," he said.
He added that the estimated cost of requiring fire sprinklers in the newly built homes is estimated to be 1 percent of the total construction cost.
The fire sprinkler requirement has sparked heated debates at the Minnesota Capitol since the rule was first proposed by the Department of Labor and Industry in 2012.Critics argued the new rule amounted to a costly mandate that would drive up the cost of home construction. Eckerman said there was a concern that the requirement would be extended to all homes — not just those larger homes.
"We talk about affordable housing a lot and obviously this adds quite a bit to the cost of a home," he said.
Eckerman said builders believe that a 2003 building code requirement that hard-wired, interconnected smoke detectors be installed in all homes provides adequate fire protection and noted there hasn't been a firefighter death since the code change.
The Southeast Minnesota Association of REALTORS also praised the decision.
"The sprinkler mandate was a solution to a problem no homeowner asked for or wanted. As we and others have said since the beginning, there was no evidence to support its implementation and it was done contrary to state statute. We are happy this expensive and arbitrary government mandate is gone," the organization's president Tami Gunn said in a statement.
Rochester Republican Sen. Dave Senjem has fought for years to get rid of the mandate. He even went to so far as to amend it to a game and fish bill, arguing that it was relevant because fish live in water and water is in sprinkler lines. But the legislation always failed to advance because DFL Gov. Mark Dayton repeatedly threatened to veto legislation that got rid of the sprinkler requirement.
Senjem said on Tuesday he was very pleased with the court's decision. He said he'll push hard in the upcoming legislative session to pass prohibiting fire sprinkler requirements for single-family homes.
"I would argue, and most people would argue, that building codes with fire walls and smoke detectors hard wired are sufficient to provide occupant protection in the event of a fire," Senjem said. "People don't burn up in fires. They die of smoke inhalation well before."
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