As a result, high-rise buildings built in those gap years, between 1943 and 1974, were not required to have sprinklers. Lawmakers approved retrofitting some 350 commercial buildings, but there was stronger resistance from the owners of residential buildings. A 2014 count by the city found 71 of the city’s roughly 200 residential high-rises did not have fire sprinkler systems. In New York, only residential buildings with four or more units constructed after 1999 were required to have sprinkler systems, though there were some exceptions. Florida required all high-rise buildings to retrofit for sprinkler systems as part of the engineered life safety plan that was passed throughout the state in 1994.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 29, 2020 19:22 UTC