Montgomery County, MD – Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan has signed into law Bill 25-03, making Montgomery County the largest jurisdiction in the nation to mandate sprinkler systems in new homes. The legislation requires all new single-family houses that are built in the County to include an approved fire sprinkler system, and it requires that property tax notices provide information about the local tax credit available for installing non-mandated sprinkler systems in all other residential buildings that do not have such systems. The legislation will apply to all new construction on or after January 1, 2004.
Sprinkler systems have proven statistically to dramatically reduce fire deaths and injuries, and to also significantly reduce total property loss.
“This legislation represents an important step forward in protecting our community from the dangers of fire,” said Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan. “Sprinklers save lives, and they are relatively inexpensive when installed in the construction phase of a home. These are essential to the health and welfare of our residents.”
The sprinkler bill was proposed by Council member Phil Andrews and co-sponsored by Council President Michael Subin and Council members Michael Knapp and Tom Perez. The legislation was unanimously passed by the County Council during Fire Prevention Week.
Current state and county laws require fire sprinkler systems in new multi-family dwellings, townhouses, and commercial structures. A substantial property tax credit is available as an incentive for installing sprinklers in older multi-family and town homes and in all other residential buildings that currently are not required to have sprinklers.
“Having a residential fire sprinkler system is like having your own firefighter in your house – around the clock and ready to go,” said Andrews.
“Just this week in Mapleton Depot, Pennsylvania, seven people lost their lives in a residential fire. The firefighters will write reports indicating the victim’s names, the cause and that this was a residential fire,” U.S. Fire Administrator R. David Paulison said. “What the report probably won’t say is that residential sprinklers and working smoke alarms can prevent these reports of tragic loses from ever occurring. Let the Montgomery County residential sprinkler ordinance help move all Americans to a time when no residents of this nation lose their lives to fires.”
Tests of new residential quick-response sprinkler systems reveal that the sprinklers respond in as little as 35 seconds, completely extinguishing a fire. Sprinkler systems normally cost less than 1 percent of the cost of a new house – similar to that of wall-to-wall carpeting. These systems are proven to be very reliable, if properly installed. Each sprinkler head within the system must be individually triggered by the heat of the fire, so that only those sprinkler heads that are needed are activated. The chances of a sprinkler system discharging accidentally are extremely remote.
“The most significant thing a family can do to protect themselves from fire is to have the combination of working smoke alarms and a sprinkler system,” said County Fire Administrator Gordon Aoyagi. “Protect what you value most.”