I’m a Firefighter. Mandatory Sprinklers is a Bad Plan
New York may soon require fire sprinklers in all new home construction. I’ve been a firefighter for 36 years and have responded to thousands of calls. And I feel so strongly about this proposal that I needed to speak out… against it.
The regulation in question is a new building code being considered by the Department of State, and it would require all future 1- and 2-story homes to include a fire sprinkler system. The arguments in favor are simple: protect homeowners from fire damage in their homes and protect firefighters from the dangers of fighting fires. These are obviously laudable goals, and I support smart building codes. I’m also in favor of saving lives; I’ve been a firefighter since I was 18, and I am currently the Second Assistant Chief and a Past Chief of the North Queensbury Volunteer Fire Company.
But the reality is that this proposal isn’t likely to achieve those goals, and it comes with a cost that is prohibitive at a time when New York needs to be making housing more affordable, not less. Installing these systems will add between $10,000 and $30,000 to the cost of building new homes – and that’s just the installation.
Maintenance is annual and it’s also expensive. And for properties in upstate New York that are second homes – in the Adirondacks or around Lake George, for example – winterizing a sprinkler system means draining a 3000-gallon tank and cleaning it every year.
In addition to being a firefighter, I’m also a Realtor® for more than 35 years, I can tell you that homebuyers are not enticed by these systems. Former State Senator and Capital Region homebuilder George Amedore recently wrote that since 2018, his company has built over 400 new homes in the state of New York and not a single buyer chose to install a sprinkler system.
And while there’s no question they work, for that to happen you need to turn them on. New Yorkers who buy homes that already have these systems are more concerned that a false alarm could cause major water damage. Most of my clients decide to shut them down rather than take that risk or pay for maintenance. The state can require these systems be installed, but they can’t require homeowners to use them.
There is nothing practical about this proposal, and New Yorkers clearly don’t want it. New York is in the middle of a housing shortage, and with thousands of new residents coming to work at Micron in central New York or the exploding population in Saratoga County, we need to be making new construction easier and less expensive. Affordable home ownership is critical to our state’s success.
In the last few weeks, Governor Hochul has made it clear to anyone listening that her priority is protecting New Yorker’s pocketbooks. Last week, she publicly criticized utility companies for proposing to raise electric bills by a couple hundred dollars a year. This building code – from her own administration – would raise costs for some New Yorkers by tens of thousands of dollars.
Governor Hochul needs to step up and put a stop to this, before it’s too late.
Dan Davies is the Second Assistant Chief and a Past Chief of the North Queensbury Volunteer Fire Company Inc and owner of the Davies-Davies & Associates Real Estate in Lake George, NY.
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