For the last year or more, our industry has been dealing with legislation overriding the code development process in several states, with regard to classroom security.  The use of politics vs. codes is not a new phenomenon, and we must be prepared for the possibility that it could continue to affect our industry.  It’s best to know early on in the process that something is brewing, so please let me know if you hear of a potential legislative change in your state.

We need to learn a lesson from the continued impact of the opponents of home fire sprinklers.  If you haven’t been following the situation, this is a great article:

Fire Fight – ProPublica

In the spring of 2012, U.S. homebuilders were celebrating a string of victories. In more than a dozen state capitals from Phoenix to Tallahassee, they had managed to block plans to require fire sprinklers in new homes.

Then came a threat from a place they thought was buttoned up: South Carolina.

It happened hours into a marathon session of the obscure council that sets state building codes. Some of the 15 council members who had gathered at the firefighters academy in the woods outside the state capital of Columbia already left for home. Late into the night, the state’s fire marshal, Adolf Zubia, somehow persuaded a majority of those remaining to support sprinklers by a vote of 6-3…

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Graphic: Shutterstock.com/Jag_cz

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