HUD’s federal advisory committee on manufactured housing considers fire sprinklers

From the March/April 2012 issue of NFPA Journal®

NFPA staff members offered their expertise at a meeting with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) federal advisory committee on manufactured housing, also known as the Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee (MHCC). Among the items considered were residential sprinklers in new manufactured homes.

The MHCC discussed the best way to address how the federal standard for manufactured housing should consider the sprinkler issue. While an across-the-board mandate for sprinklers was not supported, the question ultimately came down to what criteria should be used when a system is installed.

Following all testimony, the committee deliberated on a range of issues, from the need to mandate the systems for new homes to what rules should be considered if the home is in a jurisdiction requiring sprinklers. The recommended language that was ultimately agreed to by the MHCC includes design criteria based on the requirements of NFPA 13D, Installation of Sprinkler Systems in One- and Two-Family Dwellings and Manufactured Homes. The language also includes a section that notes “fire sprinkler systems are not required…however, when a manufacturer installs a fire sprinkler system, this section establishes the requirements for the installation of a fire sprinkler system in a manufactured home.” This language marks the first time federal standards will address sprinklers in any form.

Read the entire NFPA Journal article

Comments

[ALBERT Mignone]

The factory built homes can use a pex system. That would give you a minimum cost system that is connected to the domestic water system. It would not require separate backflow protection or flow alarms. This would not add much cost to the house but make it much safer. It will help compensate for thelight weight construction.