TORONTO, ONTARIO – Bill 72, the Municipal Residential Sprinkler Act, 2008 received Second Reading today in the Legislature. “This Bill reflects several years of effort and consultations with fire professionals across Ontario,” said Linda Jeffrey, MPP (Brampton-Springdale) author of the bill. “Each year, on average, we see over 100 Ontarians die and hundreds injured from residential fires, many of which are preventable.”
The Bill amends the Building Code Act, 1992, the City of Toronto Act, 2006 and the Municipal Act, 2001 to authorize municipalities to pass by-laws requiring the installation of fire sprinkler systems in new residential buildings. Under the Bill, the chief building official shall refuse to issue a building permit if a proposed building does not comply with such a by-law. Sprinkler systems that require installation by the by-laws must comply with standards specified in the building code.
“Residential fire sprinklers have a long history of saving lives and property,” said Alan Speed, Toronto’s former Fire Chief and spokesperson for Fire SAFE (Sprinkler Alliance for Everyone) Ontario. “These silent guardians stand ready 24/7 to help homeowners escape from a burning house and buy valuable time for the fire service to respond.”
The Ontario government is currently reviewing comments with respect to mandatory sprinklering of multifamily dwellings above three stories. A report is expected to call for legislation later this year. Bill 72 compliments this effort by focusing on low-rise and single family dwellings.
More than 220 North American jurisdictions currently have legislation in place making residential fire sprinkler systems mandatory. In Vancouver, where such systems have been mandated for more than 10 years, there has not been a single accidental fire fatality in a home where there is a properly installed and maintained residential fire sprinkler system.
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Tom Shapton
Tom Shapton March 6, 2010 at 5:32 am
I have been interested in the installation of residential fire sprinklers. I have a spent 22 years in the irrigation industry and have a few question. Does the install of home fire sprinklers have to be done by a licenced plumber or is there a course that someone can participate and recieve a qualification on the installation of home fire sprinklers.
Sincerley
Tom Shapton
Residential Fire Sprinklers .com
Residential Fire Sprinklers .com March 10, 2010 at 10:14 pm
Tom,
Installation requirements vary by area. Some cities require a contractor license, others require a special fire sprinkler license from the fire department, and some areas require both. Licensing requirements will typically also include a requirement to have business insurance as well.
Fire Smarts is currently developing the 40 hour training program for the ASSE 7000 certification for residential fire sprinkler installers. This training program will be released this spring of 2011 and training dates will be scheduled as that time approaches. This is a nationally recognized ANSI approved standard that is ideal for people wanting to enter the residential fire sprinkler
market.
I hope this helps gets you going in the right direction. You can sign-up for the Fire Smarts notification list of upcoming training events. Just visit their website at http://www.firesmarts.com/training and you’ll see a place to enter your name and email address on the right side of the page.