FIRE SPRINKLER SYSTEM REQUIRED IN PA

Last week, my husband emailed me a link to the following article "Controversial Law To Require Fire Sprinklers In New Homes", which states as of 01/01/2011 a law that all new homes in PA require a sprinkler system.  Well this was news to us because Ryan never mentioned this to us.  After further research via the web; we discovered that the PA House of Representative repealed the legislation and is now waiting for the PA Senate. (source: "Pa. residential fire sprinkler mandate is up for consideration"). 

The following is Ryan Home's response:

"As of January 1, 2011, per the building code, all new construction single family homes had to be built with sprinkler systems in them. This new code has caused an absolute uproar with builders all over the country because of the expense of these systems, which is why this bill is being repealed in congress as we speak.

With that said, Pine Hollow was priced for sprinkler systems, but there are 5 home sites within the community where Ryan Homes was able to pull permits prior to the January 1^st deadline allowing these houses to NOT have these systems installed. Your lot was one of those lots. By having a permit prior to the January 1^st deadline grandfathers your home and will prevent you from having any difficulties with resale.

Secondly, by having a permit pulled prior to January 1^st gives you a $5,000 credit which will be represented on the Change Order Addendum along with your Flooring and Guardian extras."

Source: Email from Ryan Homes on 04/03/2011

All in all, I believe that the lessons learned here is, knowledge is power and that it doesn't hurt to question or ask.

Other sources: Uniform Construction Code, Advisory on Residential Sprinkler Installation