DOJ sues Pa. over alleged discriminatory sprinkler requirement in community-based housing

PENNSYLVANIA — The Justice Department is suing Pennsylvania, alleging that state building code requirements are discriminatory and restrict community-based housing for people with intellectual disabilities and autism.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry and Pennsylvania Department of Human Services are all named as defendants in the lawsuit.

Under the Commonwealth’s Uniform Construction Code, which all local governments must follow, every “community home” for persons with intellectual disabilities and autism must install, at their own expense, an automatic sprinkler system. Pennsylvania’s building code, however, classifies community homes for persons with intellectual disabilities and autism as “facilities” and requires them to install automatic sprinkler systems, regardless of how old the home is or how capable the residents are to evacuate notwithstanding their disabilities, the lawsuit said.

“People with disabilities should not have their housing opportunities stripped away from them by restrictive safety measures that are simply not necessary,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The failure of the Commonwealth’s building code to take into account the specific needs and the capacity of people with disabilities illegally denies them access to housing opportunities. Through vigorous enforcement of the Fair Housing Act, the Justice Department is committed to ensuring that building requirements, zoning restrictions and land use codes are not abused and manipulated to deny people with disabilities their right to live integrated in their communities.”

The Justice Department said said, in part:

“Sprinkler system requirements limit the availability of housing in several ways. First, landlords in rental housing may refuse to allow sprinkler systems to be installed because their appearance, which includes long, exposed metal pipes, may render a home less marketable to future tenants and is reminiscent of the institutional facilities community homes were intended to replace. Second, sprinkler systems often cannot feasibly be installed in individual apartments, thus eliminating their ability to be used as community homes. Finally, as the department’s investigation found, sprinkler systems cost, at a minimum, nearly $10,000 to install in a small, single-family home, but these costs may triple when local water utilities require sprinkler systems to have their own water line. These costs may exceed the financial means of many community home operators and may force others to operate larger, less individualized homes.”

“Although expensive fire prevention methods, like automatic sprinklers, may reduce personal injury and damage to property, Pennsylvania cannot require individuals with disabilities to obey this code requirement without assessing their unique and specific needs,” said U.S. Attorney Gerard M. Karam for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. “Pennsylvania’s building code enforcement improperly demands individuals with disabilities living in community homes to pay thousands of dollars to install automatic sprinklers yet allows those without disabilities in similar resident housing to avoid such costs. This office will continue to enforce the Fair Housing Act and partner with the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division to ensure our disabled citizens share the same rights as their neighbors.”

Anyone with information on community homes being required to install automatic sprinklers in Pennsylvania or who have other information that may be relevant to this case may contact the Justice Department’s Housing Discrimination tip line at 1-833-591-0291. People can also email the Justice Department at Community.Homes@usdoj.gov.

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