Article Courtesy of The Palm Beach Post
By Tony Doris
Published July 14, 2016
WEST PALM BEACH -- The state agency regulating
condominiums says all condos -- not just high rises --must install fire
sprinkler systems, unless they vote to opt-out of the costly requirement by
the end of the year.
The opinion means that thousands of two- and three-story apartment
buildings, many of them comprised of affordable units at complexes like
Century Village and elsewhere around the county, will have to shell out tens
of thousands of dollars to retrofit with sprinkler systems or have
association members vote against it by Dec. 31.
The latest version of
the law, Florida statutes section 718, took out wording that
specified the fire safety requirement applied only to
buildings taller than 75 feet, about seven stories. That
left associations and their lawyers unclear on whether
shorter buildings also would have to add sprinklers.
On Thursday, in response to an inquiry by The Palm Beach
Post, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Business and
Professional Regulation said indeed they would.
“Generally speaking, the fire sprinkler requirement applies
to all residential condominiums,” said Travis Keels, deputy
director of communications for the DBPR.
That, despite an opinion by the Division of State Fire
Marshal that the state fire code requires only high rise
buildings to retroactively install sprinklers. But the
division said it’s the DBPR that makes the call when it
comes to Florida statutes concerning condos. |
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Condo owner Nancy Salmi at Century Village in
suburban West Palm Beach. Even low-rise condos like these might be
required to retrofit with fire sprinklers, under state law.
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Associations can have unit owners vote to exempt their
buildings from the requirement, but some fear that with snowbirds out of
town, many associations won’t get the votes or paperwork completed by the
Dec. 31 deadline.
Condo owner insurance premiums would probably go down when sprinklers go in,
but association dues would go up to cover the installation, condo
association lawyer Kara Tanis said. That’s a burden on seniors with fixed
incomes, she said. “There’s no extra money. I’ve been recommending people
opt out.”
Tanis estimated that installing sprinklers can cost anywhere from $600 to
$8,000 per unit, depending on the building and its condition. For an average
building, $2,000 per unit is a reasonable estimate, she said.
“What’s the purpose in the first place?” asked Century Village owner
Montgomery Rahmayer. “How many fires do we have in Century Village, for
God’s sake?”
Attorney Jeffrey Rembaum, a specialist in association law, says associations
should seek legal guidance. It wouldn’t surprise him if someone injured in a
fire in a low-rise sued that building’s association, alleging it ducked its
responsibility if it didn’t install sprinklers or conduct a vote to opt out
of having them, he said.
It’s still not clear the DBPR position is what lawmakers intended but
associations with low-rise buildings should play it safe by assuming the law
applies to them and conducting proper membership votes to opt out, he said.
Century Village’s United Civic Organization (UCO), essentially a master
association for the development’s hundreds of buildings, distributed an
information packet, explaining the simplest way for its associations to have
members vote to opt out of the sprinkler requirement, by written consent.
“We did all the legwork for the associations,” UCO President David Israel
said. “We’re not attempting to interpret the law. We’re saying, ‘Why take
the risk? Opt out unless you have a lot of money,’ because it’s very
expensive to retrofit, especially large buildings.”
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