As Ontario and Ottawa policy makers signalled intentions to mandate sprinklers in new residential buildings this month, developers and home builders bristled at the prospects of the new regulation – making sprinklers mandatory will save lives, yes, but cost too much money, or so the argument goes.
It is not always realistic to burden the individual with expenses in the name of public safety. As some have pointed out, hiring a team of personal firefighters would be a great way to prevent deadly fires, if only we all had the cash.
However, in this case, the cost is not so far-fetched. And with fire experts saying modern homes burn faster than ever, the cost seems more than just reasonable, it increasingly appears necessary.
The Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs is lobbying the province to change the building code to make sprinklers mandatory in all new residential dwellings, including single-family units and larger complexes. They say sprinklers can prevent the majority of fire-related deaths.
Premier Dalton McGuinty hinted last week the province would heed the chiefs’ request, but only for residential units of more than three stories. This conforms to the federal building code’s specifications, a model that every province has adopted except Ontario.
Ottawa, however, is making moves towards a bylaw more in tune with the fire chiefs' request: council will decide on looking into the feasibility of mandating sprinklers in all new residential units, no matter what size, next month.
Both approaches are a good start. Of the 13,000 fires in Ontario each year, 70 per cent are residential, claiming an average of 90 lives annually and causing $347 million of property damage, reports suggest.
But builders associations say the changes are not needed and will greatly reduce business. Modern building materials are getting safer, some argue, so sprinklers are not necessary. However, other experts disagree, and say modern and artificial materials spark up much faster and families have much less time to escape a fire.
While home builders are anxious about the estimated costs – one per cent of total building costs, or roughly $3,000 for an Ottawa home – most fail to recognize all the benefits.
Smoke alarms do not extinguish smoke and fire before they spread to deadly proportions. Sprinklers do. Sprinklers also contain the flames and prevent extensive damage to life, property and the environment, as well as the risk of blazes spreading through built up cities.
Insurance rates in homes with sprinklers would likely decrease 10 to 15 per cent, said the fire chiefs, saving the home owner money in the long run. In the event of a fire, sprinklers also make it safer and easier for fire fighters to do their job.
In Vancouver, where sprinkler systems have been mandatory in all newly constructed single-family homes since 1990, not one fire in those residences has resulted in death.
Sprinklers are already mandatory in commercial and industrial buildings. They are in our restaurants, movie theatres and workplaces. It is about time we give the same protection to the home. Surely, it’s worth the cost.