Wisconsin can't enforce fire sprinkler rule for small apartment buildings, says Attorney General Brad Schimel

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MADISON - The state cannot enforce a 7-year-old rule that fire sprinklers be put in new apartment buildings with three to 20 units, state Attorney General Brad Schimel wrote in an opinion Friday.

In the opinion, the GOP attorney general said the Department of Safety and Professional Services rule goes beyond the agency's authority under state law.

The issue has been controversial because fire officials contend the regulation is one of the best ways to save lives.

Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel.

"There is little question that the (opinion) will have a substantial impact on other rules and regulations involving the construction of new buildings and the state's building code, in general," Schimel wrote. "However ... the analysis below is unavoidable."

The development comes after Gov. Scott Walker's administration looked at rolling back the requirement in February, reversed itself and left it in place, and then did stop enforcing it while waiting for Schimel to determine whether the rule was lawful.

Town of Madison Fire Chief David Bloom, who serves as the legislative liaison for the Wisconsin State Fire Chiefs Association, has called previous action to halt the rule as "extreme." Amy Acton, executive director of the Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors, has said dropping the rule puts lives at risk.

Neither Bloom nor Acton returned phone calls requesting comment.

For his part, Schimel wrote that he was interpreting the law as written and it would be "up to Wisconsin's policymakers to resolve the issues raised."

State law says fire sprinklers are required in buildings with more than 20 units.

In 2008, the state put into effect the sprinkler rule for buildings with three or more units for any building built after Jan. 1, 2011. The Wisconsin Builders Association challenged the rule, but the state Court of Appeals determined the agency that set the rules had the power to do so because at the time it had broad authority to establish regulations to keep buildings safe.

But in 2011, Walker and lawmakers passed a law limiting the ability of state agencies to pass rules that go beyond what is directly authorized by state law.

The Wisconsin Builders Association has opposed the fire sprinkler rule because it drives up the cost of constructing apartment complexes.

Brad Boycks, the group's executive director, released a statement Friday praising Schimel's opinion.

Boycks sent an email to his members on July 28 saying he had learned the state was no longer enforcing the sprinkler rule. Boycks told his members they might need to eventually compromise on the issue but that he hoped a more stringent standard would not be set.