Upgrades mandated for some homes in San Francisco could range in cost from $15,000 to nearly a quarter of a million dollars, according to a new analysis of the city’s sprinkler mandate in certain buildings.
Condominium owners in the affected buildings have been complaining that the mandate is too expensive to comply with. The new analysis will be part of an advisory council’s review of how the mandate may actually be carried out.
The requirement stems from a 2022 update to the city’s fire code approved by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. The code mandates that all buildings built before 1975 that are more than about 12 stories high must install sprinklers in every living unit.
The mandate covers 126 buildings in the city, which include nearly 10,000 residences.
People who live in the affected buildings say many do not have enough space in the walls or have ceilings that are too low to install the necessary pipes for the sprinkler systems. Additionally, residents say their buildings lack the space or power required for the pumping machinery needed to support the systems.
At “The Heights” condominium building in the city’s Pacific Heights neighborhood, sprinkler systems already exist on the building’s two external fire escapes and inside the building’s halls. However, those existing systems are not enough to satisfy the city’s new mandate.
“And that’s why you can’t have a blanket law that covers every building indiscriminately. This has to be tailored,” said Steven Stiller, president of “The Heights” Condominium Association.
Stiller noted that this is just the latest expensive mandate the city has issued to building owners.
“The earthquake, um… what’s it called, the falling hazards. And we spent several million accommodating that,” Stiller said. “We went through the annunciator mandate, which was the replacement of the fire horns. Again, an enormous expense. And now the city is slapping another thing. This is just unaffordable.”
Currently, the deadline for securing all permits to start construction on the fire sprinkler mandates has been delayed for five years.
In the meantime, a technical advisory council will convene next month to evaluate the issue. The council is composed of members of the Board of Supervisors, residents, the Fire Department, and builders. Supervisor Stephen Sherrill, whose office has heard some of the biggest criticisms of the mandate from residents, sits on the technical committee.
Ahsha Safai, who currently serves as a spokesman for the San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council—but previously served as the District 11 Supervisor and was an original co-sponsor of the 2022 mandate—indicated that there may be flexibility for some properties.
“We’re going to approach each building on an individual basis. And we’re going to come up with a real path for public safety,” Safai said. “There will be some buildings based on hardship, based on infrastructure, based on water that might get an exemption.”