NEW BOCA CODES STIR COUNCILMAN'S FIRE

A new section of a nationally accepted building code is meeting with resistance from at least one Cape Girardeau councilman.

Every three years, Building Officials and Code Administrators International revises its thick books full of rules for building safe homes and businesses. The City Council then adopts the BOCA code as its own, including the revisions.

The council can, and usually does, make amendments so the code will fit local needs. Inspection Services Director Rick Murray said adoption of the code and amendments isn't a smooth process.

"There are strong feelings running through the community about keeping government out of construction practices," he said. "Contractors feel the private sector should govern itself."

This year's controversy is over a BOCA change requiring electric smoke detectors in all bedrooms of new homes. The detectors must have battery back-ups and be wired together so that if one is activated, they all are. They cost about $20 each.

Councilman Richard Eggimann, a retired contractor, isn't in favor of passing the new section. He said some of the BOCA codes are driven by monetary gain -- the more intricate wiring that has to be done, the more money architects and designers will make.

"How safe is safe?" Eggimann said. "You have to draw the line somewhere, and nobody has drawn the line yet. I truly believe that this is just the start of restricting the public sector."

He blamed Cape Girardeau's excessive building codes for the relatively slow growth in new housing inside the city limits. Jackson is experiencing a building boom, and so are some regions of Cape Girardeau County.

Local architect David Alberson, chairman of the city's BOCA Board of Appeals, disagreed. He and other board members submitted their suggestions for revisions to the City Council at Monday night's council meeting, and the smoke detector requirement was on the list.

Murray thinks the new code is a good one, saying the National Fire Prevention Association statistics show a marked drop in fire deaths since smoke detectors were required in homes. About 12,000 Americans died in fires in 1975, and only 4,200 in 1995.

The vast majority of fire deaths are in homes where the average person is unconscious for one-third of the day. Commercial buildings are required to have sprinkler systems, multiple exits and the like, but homeowners historically have had their own say about home safety.

Max Jauch, interim fire chief, said he supports the new smoke detector code. The current code states homes must have one smoke detector per floor, and it must be close to the bedrooms.

If people sleep with their doors shut, something fire experts say they should do, they may not hear the alarm. Jauch said many fire deaths are due to smoke inhalation, including three in March 1991 inside a house at 731 N. Spanish.

"It is easy to sit there and say the new code is excessive, but how can you put a $20 value on a life?" Jauch said.

The council likely will consider adoption of the code at a November meeting.