Without Fire Sprinkler Safety
The Kansas City Star reported that “Two-year-old Nora Lamirande was in her crib one Sunday afternoon in 2015 when her mother left for a moment to escort the toddler’s 4-year-old brother home from the neighbor’s. Dad was away at work. So no one heard the smoke alarm when a fast-moving fire broke out in the kitchen. Nora’s house was built without fire sprinkler safety
“Neighbors made desperate attempts at rescue. But by the time firefighters arrived, Nora was dead in the upstairs bedroom.”
“Why, Rick Ennis, the fire chief of Cape Girardeau, Mo. asked, wasn’t Nora’s home equipped with sprinklers when a national model building code requiring them in new homes and duplexes kicked in two years before it was built?”
“Ennis, chair of the Missouri Fire Sprinkler Coalition, already knew the answer. Like Missouri, Kansas and most other states, New York had chosen to exempt itself from that section of the International Residential Code.”
“Thanks to the lobbying efforts of the National Association of Home Builders, most new houses, and duplexes in the 48 other states continue to be built without sprinklers.”
Apartments and Condos Without Fire Sprinkler Safety
“Sprinklers have been around for about 100 years now — a little more. And in that 100-year time, there has never been a fatality as a result of a fire in a building with a working sprinkler system,” Chief Jones said. He advocated tougher sprinkler requirements but said he doesn’t “have any control over that.”
City code requires high-rise buildings that undergo a renovation of more than half their space to have sprinkler systems installed. But owners of older buildings can avoid that requirement by updating only some floors, leaving others alone.
Only a handful of states, including Florida and New York, require building owners to retrofit existing high-rise buildings with sprinklers. Multiple cities, including Los Angeles, Denver, and Philadelphia, have also introduced requirements, said Brian Jay Meacham, associate professor of fire protection engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts.
It typically costs more than $10 per square foot to install sprinkler piping throughout older residential high-rises. Retrofitting sprinklers is more challenging in residential towers than office buildings because of multiple compartments.
Retrofit for Fire Safety
Typically, residences, duplexes, and older buildings higher than 75 feet are without sprinklers.
Rent is lower in high rises without sprinklers and thus charge lower rent. Lower rent attracts lower income tenants who can’t afford retrofit for fire safety. If the building retrofits, then rents go up and the tenants have to move.
Sprinkler systems can trip-up investors
If you are looking to invest with a partner in real estate in Kansas City you need someone who knows the ins and outs of Kansas City. Buying a building without sprinkler systems in a building over 75 feet could cost you big money. We know our city. If you work with us, you can avoid buying mistakes with such surprising extra costs. That’s something to think about before investing in a condo or a multi-unit rental. And for goodness sake, consider adding sprinklers to residences.
Terra Firma Property Solutions, LLC is a professional, full-service real estate solutions firm.
We buy and sell properties throughout the greater Kansas City area. We specialize in buying distressed homes, then renovating and reselling them to home buyers and landlords. Terra Firma Property Solutions: excited to be part of the economic rejuvenation of Kansas City and its surrounding areas.
Call us today at (816) 866.0566
