Builders Experience

Homebuyers seem to like the option, according to Janie Head, director of operations at Williamscraft Builders, which builds between 300 and 350 homes a year in the Atlanta area. "We’ve had a lot of success," Head said.

Sales professionals at her firm had some qualms at first, she admitted. "We thought what would be detrimental would be the cost, but actual marketing experience proved otherwise," Head said. "People feel real secure and it helps their insurance."

Head said they were also worried that buyers would be concerned about appearance. "Fire sprinklers are quite inconspicuous," she said. "They’re not as obtrusive as you might think."

Fire sprinklers allow building in remote areas

More than 70 upscale homes on Boblo Island, which lies in the Detroit River between Ontario and Michigan, would still be nothing more than blueprints unless home fire sprinkler systems were part of the design, according to Dennis Cressman of Home-Safe Fire Protection of Windsor, Ontario.

As many as 400 homes in the $1 million to $2 million price range could eventually be built on the island, Cressman said. "None of these houses could have been built without home fire sprinklers because the island is not easily accessible for firefighters," he said.

A 24-home Windsor, Ontario subdivision also owes its existence to fire sprinklers. Without the installation of sprinkler systems, building permits would have been denied because the area was not readily accessible to the local fire department, he said.

"These are the things that are going to make fire sprinkler installation work for these builders, if they can increase their profits, their bottom line," says Cressman. "We put sprinklers in six houses in Ajax, Ontario," he recalled. Putting in those sprinkler systems meant six extra houses built and sold. "You can imagine the profit," he said.

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