All new one- and two-family residential structures in Fayette County will be required to have fire sprinklers beginning April 1, 2008.

In Tennessee, Fayette County commissioners voted 14-5 Tuesday night to make the sprinklers mandatory. The vote came a week after a number of commissioners, at a special meeting, voiced concerns about the mandate and voted against making a decision at that time.

“I think it will save property and lives in the future,” Commissioner Ronnie Harris said Wednesday. “It won’t help us that much right now, but since this county is one of the fastest-growing in the state, whoever’s sitting up there as a commissioner 10 years from now will be glad we did this.”

Fayette County becomes just the second county in Tennessee – Cheatham County near Nashville passed a law in 2006 – to mandate fire sprinklers in new residential housing. The vote also follows the lead of the city of Piperton, which recently mandated sprinklers in new housing there.

Commissioners hope the fire-suppression system in new homes freezes fire-protection problems at current levels, making fire department improvements an easier target in the years ahead.

The new sprinkler code does not require current homeowners to retrofit houses, which would be a daunting financial investment. It does, however, require that any additions to existing sprinklered homes – such as a new room, for example – include fire sprinklers as well.

Existing homes in the county that do not have sprinklers would not be required to install sprinklers if homeowners decide to add a room.

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