House OKs fire sprinkler uniformity bill

A technical change to state law approved Wednesday by the House would go a long way for some homebuilders and contractors who say the cost of installing automatic fire sprinklers is stymieing townhouse construction.

Rep. Tama Theis

Sponsored by Rep. Tama Theis (R-St. Cloud), HF792, as amended, would require the labor and industry commissioner to alter the state building code to establish that one- and two-family dwellings and two-unit townhouses don’t need automatic fire sprinklers. Passed 124-0, the bill heads to the Senate where Sen. Rich Draheim (R-Madison Lake) is the sponsor.

The bill would create a uniformity between Minnesota building code and other states.

Theis said installing fire sprinkler systems costs developers between $7,000 and $15,000 per unit. Requiring sprinklers in smaller dwellings has “really been affecting the housing industry” in Minnesota, Theis said.

Rep. Ben Lien (DFL-Moorhead) said developers are looking at the additional expense and taking their business to different states. In turn, Lien said, young homebuyers in northwest Minnesota have instead looked across the river to Fargo, N.D., where these building permits have shadowed Moorhead’s – 152 to two.

“This is a very important issue for my district, as much of the housing growth in Moorhead over the last five years or so has been these twinhomes,” Lien said. “This bill will get a lot of those housing starts back online and a lot of those affordable houses back on the market.”