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Cost is the issue at the forefront when it comes to arguments whether fire sprinklers should be required in all newly constructed three- to 15-unit apartment buildings.
The Sioux Falls Fire Sprinkler Task force will study the issue — weighing the potential cost to property owners, cost savings ininsurance if sprinklers are installed and the effect on renters — and make a recommendation to the City Council.
Some Sioux Falls officials say it’s time to put fire sprinklers in apartment buildings, but multihousing unit owners fear the added expense will raise rent for tenants and cause problems if the sprinklers malfunction.
Some property owners argue smoke detectors do more to alert people and ensure they get out of the building safely, and other fire-suppression means, such as two layers of drywall between units, can be used more cost-effectively.
Task force member and Sioux Falls Realtor George Hahn said additional factors also must be considered when building an apartment building which has fire sprinklers, such as a larger-sized water main and additional electrical capacity for water pumps.
“When you start adding that kind of capital cost to the investments, the requirements are higher, the rates of return are lower, the risks skyrocket and financing becomes more difficult,” Hahn said. “Effectively, you put a big damper on new apartment development, and we are very short of housing in this community.”
For 12 years, the city has not followed international requirements for sprinklers in all apartments with three units or more. Instead, a local amendment requires automatic fire-extinguishing systems in multihousing structures that have more than two levels or more than 16 units.
But proponents of fire sprinklers say they are necessary to ensure safety.
“I’m in a wheelchair. If there’s a fire, I live in my house, and I voluntarily sprinkled that, but I’m worried about other people, especially in these apartments, that are elderly, in wheelchairs such as me, or have other physical needs, that if the smoke alarm goes off and there is a fire, they just can’t get up, jump out the window, or run down the hallway to get out,” said Eric Kritzmire of Building Sprinkler Inc., who also is on the task force.
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