Support for compulsory sprinklers

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/wales/7038207.stm

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A proposal to make it compulsory for new homes in Wales to be fitted with sprinklers has been backed by Assembly Members.

Vale of Clwyd AM Ann Jones said no lives had been lost in UK properties with automated sprinklers.

The plan, for Westminster to give the assembly the power to introduce it, will now be scrutinised by a committee.

Ms Jones won a ballot to became the first AM to propose the Legislative Competence Order (LCO).

"Imagine a firefighter in every room in your home - 24 hours a day, 365 days in every year," she said.

"Because that's what sprinkler systems are, they're instant firefighters.

"Where a sprinkler system has been installed in any UK property, not one life has been lost."

Ms Jones, who worked in the fire service for almost 30 years, has estimated that including a sprinkler system adds around 1% to the cost of building a new home.

If the LCO is conferred by Parliament it will allow the assembly to pass a Welsh law, known as an assembly measure.

The proposal also has the support of fire officers.