Today’s Newsday (article by Maura McDermott) talks about Sandy damaged elevated homes and issues surrounding new Fire Sprinkler codes. According to the article, Long Island homeowners can now receive federal funds (via NY Rising) to help pay for fire sprinkler systems.
This follows a New York issued a bulletin that explained that some elevated homes (homes raised and lifted) would now require sprinkler systems to be installed. This mandate created shock through the system with many homeowners already struggling to rebuild their homes finding that they now had further financial obligations. Many homeowners are beginning to show signs of relief now that NY Rising intends to pay costs to equip homes with sprinklers, according to the article.
Fire sprinkler systems can cost $15,000 or more, according to Newsday, so this news is positive for homeowners looking to relieve some of the burden of rebuilding after the Sandy Storm. NY Rising, the agency that is distributing State aid to help rebuild homes on Long Island and beyond expects 500 to 1,000 homeowners to need sprinklers.
Over the past few weeks, NY Rising received many inquiries from media, contractors, and homeowners to see if NY Rising would pay for sprinklers. Ben Jackson (Owner of Freeport, NY general contracting company Ben’s General Contracting), weighed in on the issue in an interview. He explained that homeowners and contractors were very concerned that the mandate would put an undue burden on people. Ben’s has been very active in advocating for homeowners impacted by the storm. If NY Rising does in fact pay for Fire Sprinklers, Ben’s believes many homeowners are going to be interested.
For more information, the original Newsday article is here.
Download the Newsday article about fire sprinklers here as a PDF.
Visit here for more information on NY Rising contractors.
NOTE:
This is a summary of a 1/28/14 article published by Newsday via Maura McDermott meant for informational purposes. The intent is to summarize some of the content provided in the original article.
