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Sunday, August 09, 2015

Sprinklers, and added cost, now universal in Maryland

OCEAN CITY —The final stroke of state sprinkler requirements could dampen single-family construction in the resort area, as the now-mandatory fire safety devices continue what many describe as long trend of added regulatory expense.

As of the first of this month, Maryland jurisdictions, including municipalities and counties, are no longer able to exercise an opt-out from the state fire safety code requiring sprinklers in all new construction, including single-family homes.

“When you talk about how poor Worcester County is, with the exception of Ocean City, you’re saying people who are already struggling to build a home now have an additional cost that may prohibit them from building a house,” said Reese Cropper, president of Insurance Management Group.

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18 comments:

Anonymous said...

More MD forced big brother Owemalley government regulation. Take a ride up in lower Delaware and compare the new residential construction to almost none in Wicomico County. Residential sprinklers are not recquired in Delaware. Construction provides jobs and boosts the economy. Forced regulations such as required sprinklers in new homes just add to the costs making a new home purchase less affordable.

Anonymous said...

And your insurance cost will go up not down. If you loose power in the winter and pipes freeze, there will be additional water damage. If you live in a rural area and have a power failure, your water pump will not run, therefore the house burns anyway. We need to start electing people with common sense.

Anonymous said...

9:49 Correct. It was Democrats in Maryland that passed this law and signed by O'Malley. The builders associations in Maryland tried to fight this legislation and had the support of the Republicans. Take a ride north into Delaware where there is building everywhere. In Maryland they call elected officials "regulators". That is correct as Democrats have pretty much regulated people out of business.

Anonymous said...

Actually your homeowners insurance goes down significantly. I lived recently in a county in MD where we had sprinklers and we saw the savings and had had the extra peace of mind that our property (and our pets when we were not at home) were protected. It is an extra cost but one incident could save your life, your families life and property...there is no price tag for that. This is on new construction only. The cost was included in the purchase price of the home and it really was not that bad.

Anonymous said...

$6k -$12k based on sq ft, they tried to sell this in 2009, that is would cost no more the $1.60 to $2.25 sq ft, its more like $3.75 to $5.00 all depending on different variables....Thanks O'Malley

Anonymous said...

The developers cry like it's going to raise home prices.

Here's a news flash - the developers sell for as much as the market will bare. If they can get a million dollars for a house, that's what they sell it for. The cost to develop the house doesn't factor into it.

The cost to develop will factor into the feasibility of the project. If the price difference means the project doesn't make financial sense, they'll delay or move on to a different project.

Anonymous said...

The only market àround here is short sales and foreclosures.

Anonymous said...

Jim Mathias introduced this legislation and had it pushed through with his croney democrat buddies. What most people don't know is that Jim has been on Royal Plus payroll as a P R man. FACT. This needs to be looked into. Royal Plus is getting rich with water damage cleanup from frozen pipes in the winter. I talked to 2 insurance companies and last year they had record claims with frozen sprinkler systems. Why don't Jim and his buddies put a sprinkler system in their house???

Anonymous said...

This law is for the entire state of Maryland thanks to Jim Mathias.

Anonymous said...

If people knew the complete story about these sprinkler systems. Royal Plus can tell you about it, they are getting rich if you have a fire or not.

Anonymous said...

2:55 it's the people wanting to buy houses in Maryland who are crying. wake up. Hello DE.

Anonymous said...

11:00 am You don't know what your talking about. Smoke kills people before the sprinklers are ever set off. Next 80 % of house fires are kitchen fires usually grease related. Spray water on a grease fire?. Next my insurance went up told it was going to go down but apparently more risk for insurance companies. Look at large studies already done in CA and other areas that have had this in effect for years. Why is there only 5 fortune 500 companies left in Maryland and the number of people living on independence cards have doubled?

Anonymous said...

This should be a top story. somebody need to be exposed. Heard Jim has shady dealings with the horse track.

Anonymous said...

As far as insurance goes....will this lower the cost or increase it? As someone said most fires start in the kitchen. So let' say there is a small grease fire and before you can grab the salt or the fire extinguisher the sprinklers go off.....now look at all the water damage you will have to pay for. I doubt your insurance will even cover something like that.

Anonymous said...

This story needs to be top headlines. It will affect so many people in the future.
If I want to build a home this should be a choice. Someone said you can't put a price on a life well then outlaw swimming pools and the list goes on.

Anonymous said...

They are building like crazy in Delaware areas around Ocean View, Fenwick etc. Cross into Maryland and you will be hard pressed to find any new construction going up.

Anonymous said...

This will kill new home construction in Maryland. We need to ask Gov. Hogan's newly formed Regulatory Review Commission to remove this law from the books. Your right. James Mathias is going to pad his pockets big on this one.

Mathias is only out for Mathias. He has proven it time and time again through his support of liberal legislation.

Anonymous said...

Ifnyou can afford to build a home today..... You can afford sprinklers. People just think they're ugly. Wait till the look in a mirror in the burn unit.