[jyl]

architect got quote for fire sprinkler at $41,000 including upsizing meter to 1.0”. Then the sprinkler company said the city is requiring dedicated 1.5” service for the sprinkler, another $17,000.

I see the city’s fire code explicitly says “all” sprinkler systems are permitted to use combined domestic/sprinkler water supply. Company says doesn’t matter, the fire marshal will not approve a system without a separate dedicated sprinkler water supply line, if the water utility cuts off domestic water (e.g. for non payment) they want water still available for sprinkler.

Sigh. I wonder if I can sue the city if they don’t follow their own code.

I am trying to find a small fire sprinkler company.

If fire sprinklers are really going to cost ~$60,000, it may make sense to skip them and spend the money on fire separation and egresses instead.

There is a weird wrinkle. The city may say the basement in actually the first floor, because it is daylight on two sides of the building, while on the sides where you actually enter/exit the basement floor is well below grade. I read the code as saying “grade” is the average grade around the building perimeter (which would make the basement floor about 3 feet below grade), the city is saying if at any point the grade is level with or below the floor level, then the entire floor is considered above grade (and thus the “first floor”). That means the first floor will be considered the “second floor”, and the second floor considered the “third floor” and they’ll require me to build a second exterior egress, and the third floor/finished attic considered the “fourth floor” which they’ll require me to abandon (wall up or tear out the stairwell). I’ll probably be fighting this - the code language looks very clear to me.

There is another weird wrinkle. The city says they have no records this building was ever permitted as multifamily, even though it is listed in the city’s own database as “triplex” and 2015 permits describe it as multifamily. If they consider it single family, then converting to commercial gets a little more complicated. So my architect has found 1928 and 1942 permits describing it as variously “store” and multiple dwellings, and we’ll see if the city recognizes reality.