Sprinkler Bill Wins Key Approval in S.C. Senate

HBA of Greenville Members

I have very good news. The S.C. Senate today gave second reading to legislation that will prohibit enforcement of automatic fire sprinklers in the International Residential Code until January 1, 2014. This was a compromise that was reached after the Senate invoked cloture on the bill. I would like to thank each of you who contacted your Senator asking that they vote for cloture. That was a key vote that put your association in position to reach a reasonable compromise.

The next step will be third reading on the bill on Tuesday. For your information, the bill number is now 4663, a bill that had already passed the House and is now the vehicle for our sprinkler bill. After the Senate gives the bill third reading on Tuesday the bill will return to the House where the HBA will ask the House to agree to the Senate amendments. Assuming they do so, the bill will then be ratified and sent to the Governor.

For your information, the HBA of South Carolina estimates that there was between 125 and 150 home builders in the lobby of the State House today, a terrific turnout. I would like to thank these members for traveling on short notice to Columbia today to work on the sprinkler issue:

• Tom Dillard and Susan Vernon of Dillard-Jones Builders
• Coleman Shouse of Lazarus-Shouse Communities
• Keith Smith and Chris Moffitt of Keith Smith Builders
• John Butcher of 2-10 Home Warranty
• Larry Hazenfield and several of his staff from ProBuild

This is a great win for your Home Builders Association and shows what can happen when we all pull together to fight to protect the home building industry. It also is a major reason for the Home Builders Association to exist—to fight for your industry.

Your dues dollars at work. Thank you for being a member of the Home Builders Association of Greenville.

Michael E. Dey, Executive Director