I reviewed the USFA/FEMA Web site an earlier writer referenced in support of requiring sprinklers. This and related sites indicate that eventually 2,000 lives each year could be saved by sprinklers. Truth is, as they point out, this will only happen once ALL houses, new and old, are protected. Most new houses are in addition to older units, not replacements. Requiring sprinklers in new houses won’t lower this number for generations. But, the base cost of a new house will go up by thousands immediately. USFA also indicates this can keep the very people who are most affected by fires, “the elderly and people of low socioeconomic status,” out of these safer homes.

USFA’s “national average” construction costs are inadequate (low) when applied locally. My local new home clients pay from $3,000 to $8,000 for sprinklers. Renton’s City Council properly considered the recommendations of more than 4,000 local contractors and associates when they reviewed the local King and Snohomish County Master Builders Association’s submittal. Interestingly, the earlier writer wants the council to force his views forced upon us. But, when local opponents constitutionally petition the same government and win, he claims they are somehow controlling it.

His next assertion, that by not installing free sprinklers contractors are “cutting corners to increase profits,” is merely stereotypical hype. I professionally review hundreds of residential construction sites and budgets in and around Renton each year and this assertion is simply not true.

Using his stereotype, improper numbers and the mandatory requirement, the writer contends all contractors must provide sprinklers at no cost to the buyer. If you want upgraded cabinets, carpets, or windows should the contractor supply them at no cost, or are they just “cutting corners?” They all add value and cost to the house, and so will upgrading to sprinklers. Requiring contractors to provide free sprinklers, because their profits have to be controlled by government or they will “cut corners,” is socialistic nonsense. Mandatory supply and forced pricing are not “healthy competition.” It doesn’t even help those most endangered.

Karl Konig

Renton

Editor’s note: This is the final letter to the editor in a back-and-forth discussion between the current writer and Dan Clawson, a former Renton City Council member.