Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/31501
SECURITY SYSTEMS NEWS APRIL 2011 www.securitysystemsnews.com FIRE SYSTEMS INSTALLATION 25 CANASA battles Toronto zero-tolerance by-law By Tess Nacelewicz TORONTO—The Canadian Security Association continues to fight against a zero-tolerance false alarm regula- tion here, despite a recent decision by a city committee to defer until 2012 consideration of a proposal that would give homeowners a break, allowing them one free false fire alarm annually before fines Sprinkler Continued from page 24 initially added to the IRC in the 2009 edition, and ICC’s members soundly rejected efforts by the National Association of Home Builders to have the requirement repealed in 2012.” States either use the IRC or a code similar to it, Dewar said. Last year, Pennsylvania and California adopted the 2009 versions of the IRC and became the first two states to require automatic sprinkler systems in new one- and two-family homes as of Jan. 1 this year. Now, new legislation in California would delay imple- mentation of the sprinkler law there for a couple of years, Dewar said. In Pennsylvania, he said, homebuilder sprinkler opponents are using such misinformation as saying sprinkler systems would cost $20,000 or more and stop the recovery of the housing market. A national study puts the cost of a home sprinkler system at $1.61 per square foot and Dewar believes it could be as low as $1.25 per square foot in Pennsylvania, or $2,500 for a 2,000-square-foot home. He said the homebuilders have persuaded most legislators to favor the bill allowing a sprinkler opt-out, HB 377. “It has strong support based on misinforma- tion,” Dewar said. Republican state Rep. Garth Everett, the bill’s sponsor, said he and other lawmakers are con- cerned about such factors as addi- tional sprinkler costs for homes in rural areas that have wells. He said the bill has additional fire protection requirements for pre- engineered beams, a concern of firefighters, and that homeowners still can choose sprinkler systems if they want them. Select Security, an alarm com- pany based in Lancaster, Pa., acquired a sprinkler company last fall. Thomas Perry, general man- ager of Fire Systems Integrated, Select Security’s new sprinkler division, told SSN he has been battling the “factually incorrect” campaign of homebuilders for more than year, including doing interviews on television and radio. SSN Does Your Inspection Reporting System Deliver the Critical Data Your Customers Need? BuildingReports’ web-based inspection reporting system and unique bar code technology can deliver device specifi c reports for your customers with more detail than any other system! would kick in. “We lost the battle for the year, but we sure have not lost the war,” CANASA’s executive director JF Champagne told Security System News in February. He said the Toronto zero-tolerance false alarm by-law is the most oner- ous such regulation that CANASA, headquartered in Markham, Ontario, is aware of. “Toronto is the only one we know of that has had this kind of effect on single-family homeown- ers,” Champagne said. Some city residents have report- edly disconnected their fire alarms to avoid the high fines the 2010 zero-tolerance by-law requires. In addition to battling for the one free false alarm exemption for hom- eowners, CANASA also is fighting a city budget proposal to increase the fees for false alarms this year from $350 per truck dispatched to $450. With three trucks routinely responding to each alarm, the total fine for a false alarm could climb from $1,050 to $1,230. The effort is an uphill one because Toronto’s newly elected fiscally con- servative mayor is looking for new revenues as he slashes city spending. The fee increase could bring $1.9 million more to city coffers. Still, Champagne said, “we are fighting this very strongly.” He said the national board of CANASA has authorized spend- ing up to $50,000 for advocacy on the issue. SSN *0 1 1 0 2 1 0 0* Trusted reporting data your customers need: • 3rd Party Verifi cation • Inventory & Warranty Report • Time/Date Inspected • Automated Product Recall Alerts • Service Authorizations • Discrepancy Reports • 24/7 Access • NFPA Embedded Codes & Standards 770.495.1993 sales@buildingreports.com www.BuildingReports.com inspection reporting solution The world’s most trusted