Calvert Commissioners Approve Home Sprinkler Requirement
Is the extra safety provided by a sprinkler system worth adding $1,000 to $6,000 to the cost of a single family home? The Calvert Commissioners decided it was at their April 5 meeting, voting 4-1 to require that all new homes have the systems starting as of July 1, 2013. Any single-family home building applied for after that date must include sprinklers.
The only negative vote came from Commissioner Evan Slaughenhoupt (R-3rd District), who favored making the change immediate, exempting only those currently who have already applied for a building permit. “This section of the code is about life and safety,” he said.
Commissioner Jerry Clark (R-1st) noted that “We already require this in a lot of construction now. To expand it into single-family homes is a natural progression. Being healthy and protecting their investment is important, too.”
Commissioner Pat Nutter (R-At Large) “thought this was going to be easy, but it’s not easy. I asked people I know, and surprisingly enough 90 percent were not in favor of it. They felt it was a case of government telling them they must spend this amount of money when they can barely get qualified for a mortgage as it is.” He added, “The fact is, we need to educate better on the benefits.”
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