By Eric Lindberg – The Daily Sound

Fire sprinklers will become an integral part of construction in Santa Barbara after city leaders unanimously agreed to require new homes and commercial buildings to install sprinkler systems, a mandate that also applies to major remodels or additions.

After the concept took several laps through the approval process — particularly to answer concerns from the community about the increased cost of a sprinkler installation — the city council deemed the proposal had been thoroughly vetted and made sense from a safety standpoint.

“Although we lose more homes to wildfires, we lose more people to home fires,” Councilmember Das Williams said.

The new code requirement, which will be officially adopted next week as a procedural matter, mandates sprinklers in all new buildings regardless of square footage, although small utility buildings are exempt.

Residential remodels or additions involving 75 percent of the total square footage would also trigger the sprinkler requirement, as would commercial renovations or additions larger than 50 percent of the floor area.

The issue of cost cropped up during the hearing when several community members questioned the need to impose more expensive requirements on construction projects in Santa Barbara, an area already struggling in the arena of affordable housing.

“There is no question that this ordinance would add to the cost of construction in Santa Barbara, perhaps by as much as $7,500 per unit,” said Lanny Ebenstein, president of the Santa Barbara County Taxpayers Association.

City officials, however, noted that insurance carriers typically offer discounts on fire policies in the range of 2 to 20 percent if sprinkler systems are installed.

“It’s obvious this is an increase in construction costs, but there’s also a gain in reduced insurance costs,” Williams said, adding that the concept had been thoroughly reviewed during stakeholder meetings. “This was not considered onerous by our local Realtors,” he said.

Fire Marshal Joe Poire touted the lifesaving benefits of fire sprinklers, telling city leaders that homeowners are 82 percent less likely to be killed in a house fire if they have functioning sprinklers and smoke detectors.

He also addressed comments from a few public speakers asking for the city to consider an ordinance requiring residents in high-fire hazard areas to build exterior fire protection systems, such as rooftop sprinklers, rather than interior sprinkler systems.

“You are much more likely to be killed by a fire in your home than a Tea Fire or Jesusita fire,” Poire said.

The fire marshal noted concerns about sufficient water flow to single-family homes that had fire sprinklers installed. Questions had been raised during public meetings about whether the standard 5/8-inch water meter would provide enough pressure to supply a sprinkler system.

“Unfortunately, we can’t answer that in every single instance,” Poire said, explaining that it depends on a number of factors, such as the height of the building and how much distance the water pipe covers. However, he added, “I can’t remember the last time it failed to meet the water flow requirement.”

Should a 5/8-inch meter be deemed insufficient for a specific home, he said the homeowner could install an onsite water supply and pumps, connect to a larger meter, or build a dedicated fireline.

Upgrading to a larger meter or trenching for a new fireline would include one-time costs between $2,000 and $9,200, city officials said.

Councilmember Dale Francisco said he had been initially opposed to the proposed requirement, but decided to offer his support after hearing from fire officials in prior meetings and noting the amount of public input that had taken place.

However, he warned that it is growing increasingly difficult to gauge the value of incrementally improving safety through building code requirements at the cost of making construction more expensive.

“We are reaching a point of diminishing returns,” Francisco said.

Mayor Marty Blum likened the fire sprinkler requirement to mandating that automobiles include seatbelts, recalling her father saying years ago that he didn’t want seatbelts in his car simply because he didn’t want them.

“I think this is the same kind of thing in some ways, because it’s a safety issue,” she said.

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