Sprinkler law could affect older residences

Rebuilding damaged homes also included in county mandate

By ERIN COX, Staff Writer

Published 01/10/09

The county's new sprinkler requirement could lead to hefty bills for current homeowners, if their homes become damaged.

The mandatory sprinkler law for new homes that passed this week also applies to rebuilding damaged homes. And insurance agents say some home-owners policies will not pay for the added cost of installing the required sprinklers if disaster strikes.

"Some companies include the coverage and others don't," said Charlene Hardee, a Nationwide agent in Edgewater. Skipping the piece of insurance called "ordinance" or "law" coverage can shave cost from the premium and most policy buyers don't notice it's missing. "People don't know to ask," Ms. Hardee said.

The sprinkler law will affect anyone who does substantial work to his home, including large additions or rebuilding after a fire or flood if the work costs 50 percent or more than the value of the home.

Although many homeowners insurance policies contain ordinance or law coverage that will pay for the various extra costs of reconstructing a home to meet current building standards, not all insurance agents offer it to their customers, industry experts said.

"You have to check with the insurance company, but when it comes to these ordinance (coverages), the difference between returning your home to its previous condition and the cost to rebuild your home with those upgrades may not be covered," said Karen Barrow, director of public affairs for the Maryland Insurance Commission.

At $1 to $2.50 per square foot, picking up the tab for a county-required sprinkler system in a 2,000 square-foot house could cost $4,800.

"It seems to me this is part of the education portion of this bill," said County Council Vice Chairman Cathy Vitale, R-Severna Park, who introduced the sprinkler bill. "I would hope that insurance agents, when they talk to owners about homeowners insurance, talk to their clients about all the options."

Installing sprinkler systems is only one of the upgrades required by county law if a home is rebuilt.

Other requirements include replacing aluminum wiring, assuring that stairwells and windows meet current building codes, hardwiring smoke detectors into the electrical system and removing lead paint.

All of those costs would be shouldered by the residents if their policy lacks ordinance or law coverage.

It costs about $40 a year to insure a $1 million home for $100,000 in coverage. Less-expensive homes can add coverage for as little as $10.

"Agents are trying to sell policies by shortchanging their customers," said Councilman Ed Reilly, who also sells insurance.

None of the big-three companies in Maryland - Nationwide, State Farm or Allstate - could estimate how many of their policies lack this coverage. But a spokesman for the Insurance Information Institute, a national organization that provides information about the industry, said most policies start out with this coverage.

Larry Cate, the vice president of Absolute Fire Protection in Severna Park, has been installing sprinkler systems in Anne Arundel County for two decades. He said most of the business he currently does on existing homes comes with renovation, not for repairs from fire damage.

However, he said the cost for retrofitting a home in good repair generally exceeds the costs to install sprinklers in a home that needs extensive work.

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insanity i forgot to say - January 13, 2009

.has we all know in south county the electrical grid we depend on has been liken to a third world country so no power in wind,rain,snow and god forbid a ice storm any of these things we have no power,that means no water.so my question is what good are sprinkler systems in this event.i don't know about any other but i'm on a swallow well and we have two bathrooms but only one can be used at time.the well can not produce enough volume of water to run both at once hell if someone flushes a toilet there is no water that's with a booster pump in place a toilet flushed and there is no water certainly no cold water. i guess vice chairman Cathy vitale must have city water or a deep well and/or a back up generator or that she has no idea about the county she is supposed to represent in my opinion.maybe she should help find the people she is supposed to represent work in these tough economic times but i guess that does not concern her I wonder why this is.just add more financial burden to citizens of the county good thinking Ms vitale I just what to thank you for all your help a concern voter, I'm sure she understands that well, maybe not she's in that GPO party good luck in the next election Ms vitale. please do your homework before you introduce bills like this. i do agree new construction on city/county water supply this bill makes sense other than that it's insane. I'm not going address the historic Annapolis homes this is another can of worms someone in the county needs to rethink this whole thing please do your jobs for all the residents of the county

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edward madden - edgewater, MD - Karma: Bad

more insanity - January 11, 2009

Did anyone research the cost to homeowners to retro fit their homes in case they have a fire in their homes,this is already devastating event now the county whats to make this better in some distorted way thinking.Lets not forget that most homes are on wells that can't provide enough water for sprinkler systems.What do we have to upgrade are wells also, that i'm pretty sure insurance is not going to pay for this at a cost of 5-10 thousand dollars depending on how deep it needs to be drilled. I guess I'll go buy a tent to live in if this happens to me but that probably violates some county law maybe in my car. Come on what are they thinking oh thats right goverment doesn't think they just spend our hard earn money on insane things like this

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edward madden - edgewater, MD - Karma: Bad

Poor and minority effects - January 10, 2009

When considering a certain government policy, or indeed any decision in life, it is crucial to consider not just the short-term effects on one group of people or in one aspect, but also the long-term effects on all aspects and groups of people. Besides the obvious cost added to new construction, there are other effects. One such effect is the impact on the county poor, which is composed of a greater proportion of minority citizens. The added costs to new home construction will, of course, be passed on to the home-buyer, driving up the price. The higher cost of homeownership, in turn, is a large obstacle for some lower-class and minority families to purchase homes. In addition, it is the poor that will not be able to afford the costs, in case of a fire, or installing the sprinkler system. The end results of this mandate will be an outflux of current and a prevention of possible poor and minority home-owners. This is the long-term effect. The base premise of this mandate is that the county government has the right to tell individuals what to do with their private property and with themselves. In fact, why not "vote" upon a mandatory BEDTIME for all country residents, to "protect" them from the hazardous effects of sleep-deprivation? Surely even the councilmembers who voted for this bill would agree that there is something wrong with this picture, but that is the road we are headed on in this county, and have been for some time (to say nothing of the state and national governments). The government has no right to mandate the actions of sovereign individuals, no matter what the perceived "benefits" are. The only way to prevent such intrusions upon the lives of individuals is to destroy the root belief from which they come: that it is the government's role to "protect" the citizens from whatever danger is currently in the council's spotlight.

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Michael B. - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Bad