Confusion over state fire sprinkler requirement had owners of low-rise condos worried about complying
WEST PALM BEACH — Residents of low-rise condos can relax about fire sprinkler systems. Apparently.
An updated state law appeared to require them to install expensive systems, or marshal their homeowners’ associations to vote to opt-out of the requirement.
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But Palm Beach County Fire Marshal Larry Willhite said this week that read in context, the law only applies to buildings over seven stories.
“As a general statement, if you’re a properly permitted, inspected and certificate of occupancy-ed low- and mid-rise condominium with no outstanding violations, then this statute that came out is for high-rises that are over 75 feet tall,” said Willhite, who has responsibility for enforcing fire laws in the county.
His opinion is shared by those who would profit the most from having every building install sprinklers, the Florida Fire Sprinkler Association and American Fire Sprinkler Association.
“There is no statutory fire sprinkler retrofit requirement for existing mid-rise or low-rise condominium and therefore no need to vote to opt out,” the associations said in a statement.
Sprinklers historically haven’t been required for low- and mid-rises because fire departments have ladders that reach 75 feet. For taller buildings, sprinklers or other life safety systems make sense, the associations said.
But because the updated law removed the “over 75 feet” wording, many homeowners associations throughout Florida were scurrying to comply. The state Department of Business and Professional Regulation’s Division of Condominiums indicated the law now did apply even to low- and mid-rise buildings, which meant those building would have to spend thousands of dollars per unit to retrofit them with sprinklers, or round up members to cast an opt-out vote by year’s end.
But many disagreed with that interpretation, including lawyers on a Florida Bar subcommittee who held a special meeting on the matter this summer.
The only instance in which lower buildings must install or vote against sprinklers is if there’s a local law that requires it, condominium lawyer Ryan Poliakoff said this week. And according to Willhite, that’s not the case in Palm Beach County.