Leonardtown, MD — New homes in St. Mary’s County constructed with wells will need residential sprinklers beginning July 1 of this year. The new requirement is part of the 2015 Maryland Building Performance Standards that apply to all buildings and structures in the state. Heretofore only homes with central water systems were required to have sprinklers

The Commissioners of St. Mary’s County held a public hearing March 31 on a proposal for two exemptions. One would exempt homes without electricity to accommodate the county’s Amish and Mennonite population.

The second exemption would delay implementation until January 1, 2016 for a lot served by substandard water supply from a water main to the property line that is:
• Less than a nominal one-inch size;
• Approved and owned by the public or private water system that owns the mains;
• Was installed before March 2, 2011 or;
• Is fully operational from the public or private main to a curb stop or meter pit located at the property line.

Before testimony was received at the March 31 public hearing, Commissioner Mike Hewitt (R – 2nd) expressed concern about the cost to potential new homeowners of a new system.  He also challenged the reliability of sprinkler systems on wells and noted the possibility of failure and resultant water damage to the home

Although there was no testimony at the March 31 public hearing against the proposed exemptions, members of the county volunteer fire companies did use the occasion to lobby for sprinkler for life safety and to save homes from destruction.

Long-time Bay District Volunteer Fire Department member Keith Fairfax attempted to allay some of Hewitt’s concerns. He said had not heard of many failures and said the installation was required by contractors certified by the state.  “We are here because residential sprinklers are absolutely important to what we are about, to what we should be about.”

Fairfax said a 300-gallon tank, an average for a residential property, would cost about $1,650 more than would a system on central water. Total cost to the builder, which likely would be passed on to the home buyer, would be about $5,000.

Fairfax noted that a citizen’s life was lost in 2014 in a home without sprinklers. He said for the volunteer firefighters, sprinklers were one of the most important things in their goal of saving property and lives.

Regarding the changes to the building code, Fairfax noted they were considered to be “consensus standards” by those who developed them and not just by fire departments.

Fairfax gave the commissioners a DVD of fires in side by side homes in which one with a sprinkler was spared and one without was totally destroyed.

Former county commissioner Tom Mattingly of the Leonardtown Volunteer Fire Department told the commissioners of two recent incidents involving his department in which sprinklers quickly doused kitchen fires with little resultant damage.

Mattingly noted that a former commissioner board had adopted a tax credit for residential sprinklers but it had only been applied for once, perhaps because it wasn’t well known. That credit is set to expire and Mattingly suggested the commissioners consider extending it to mitigate the fiscal impact of new home sprinklers.

Builder Mike Mummaugh testified that as a small contractor he was concerned about the time it takes to get fire marshal approval of sprinkler systems. Commissioner Todd Morgan [R – 4th] said that was perhaps something the commissioners could work on to try to rectify.  

Director of Land Use and Growth Management (LUGM) Phil Shire made the presentation of the proposed changes during the public hearing. He said LUGM would present additional code amendments (not related to sprinklers) in April and May in order to meet the July 1 implementation date required by the Maryland Building Performance Standards.

Comments on the proposed exemptions can be made for the next ten days before the commissoners finalize them.

Contact Dick Myers at news@thebaynet.com