Rental houses 9+bed require central station Fire alarm

[noknees]

Got a call from the local fire marshal and he states that any seasonal or weekend rental house that has more than 8 beds, require installation of a central fire alarm system including pull boxes. Then an annual inspection fee and monitoring. And you can not disconnect for summer months or your have to re-apply. Also, your house has to be considered commercial and only licensed contractors can perform work on your house. Ouch...Vermont is heading down the wrong path with over regulation. An now this....
The picked up my number from VRBO. Keep your head low if you rent out your place.

Anyone else hear about this? They are focusing on Killington next.

[boston_e]

Are you sure the call you got is not a scam of some sort? I'd be sure to verify that before you do anything.

[da Pimp]

So a small three bedroom duplex or apartment with two double bunk rooms for kids and one bedroom with a double bed is 9 beds, and that requires a heavy duty commercial alarm application?

[da Pimp]

So a small three bedroom duplex or apartment with two double bunk rooms for kids and one bedroom with a double bed is 9 beds, and that requires a heavy duty commercial alarm application?

[ANGUS]

Sounds like a scam without looking into VT fire regulations. Don't answer the the phone. Wait until they send you certified mail. Under what VT law or NFPA section do they have authority to do this? Who is paying for VT fire marshals to look at VRBO listings?

[Mistergiff]

This might be true. Its a dirty little secret of Air BnB that in nearly any state that has some aspect of the International Building Code in force various requirements like this apply. Now Vermont is an oddball case, it does not have a statewide building code per say but does have some older fire codes so I am unsure of what the exact requirements would be. However in Massachusetts nearly every single AirBnB is completely illegal. The IBC as amended in Mass calls for a full blown sprinkler system in any accommodation rented for 30 days or less. The only reason there's still AirBnBs or VBRO's in Mass is because local towns in tourist heavy areas simply, politically, cannot enforce this regulation. I'd reach out to a design professional (engineer or architect) in the area for an opinion on if this Vermont code issue is legitimate. It might be.

[ANGUS]

Got a call from the local fire marshal and he states that any seasonal or weekend rental house that has more than 8 beds, require installation of a central fire alarm system including pull boxes. Then an annual inspection fee and monitoring. And you can not disconnect for summer months or your have to re-apply. Also, your house has to be considered commercial and only licensed contractors can perform work on your house. Ouch...Vermont is heading down the wrong path with over regulation. An now this....
The picked up my number from VRBO. Keep your head low if you rent out your place.

Anyone else hear about this? They are focusing on Killington next.

Can you please provide the name and jurisdiction of this local fire marshal? Do you have caller ID? The number would be helpful that you were called from. PM me if you want. I think this is a scam.

[deadheadskier]

It might not be a scam. I'm trying to remember the specifics of the conversation I had last year around the holidays with my uncle. He is a general contractor in Quechee. He had given up on building new homes because of new sprinkler system requirements in the area. Pretty certain he said all new construction in either the town or county, even single family homes, now require sprinkler systems. So, having heard that from him, the OP's story sounds plausible.

[noknees]

Firemarshall is from Rutland office David Green 802-238-1561. Give him a call....his line is I'm hear to help you. He found my listing on VRBO and don't worry, we give you time to comply. When I spoke to him this week he said my place would need a central fire alarm. Which means pull boxes, replacement of all sensors with low voltage commercial items, snaking low voltage wiring all over the house, exposed wire molding, and control box in the basement. Also, no sleeping in lofts or any area without an door. Each sleeping room needs to have a door. This is all bad...but then it gets worse. Once your house is considered commercial you need to apply for permits to do any upgrades to the state and not local. Need professional designs just like working in NYC. Lots of red tape. Surprising there is not a revolt over this. Okemo/Ludlow has been the focus area and now expanding to Killington area. Give Dave Green a call and ask him....just don't tell him where you live! I called and talked to an alarm company that does system upgrades and he is the one who told me about all the requirements. When you talk to the firemarshall, he points you to the firemarshal website but you can't read the codes directly.

Hope someone finds me wrong...

[SnoBrdr]

Sounds like a scam without looking into VT fire regulations. Don't answer the the phone. Wait until they send you certified mail. Under what VT law or NFPA section do they have authority to do this? Who is paying for VT fire marshals to look at VRBO listings?

This has been going on for sometime.

It started with the Vermont Tax Division going thru all the listing and sending out tax notices.

There was a thread here a couple of years ago about people who ran ski houses getting bills for thousands of dollars going back years.

[E O Eleven]

[noknees]

Meeting with the fire marshal tomorrow....will see what he has to say. I'm here to help....

[yiddle on da fiddle]

Firemarshall is from Rutland office David Green 802-238-1561. Give him a call....his line is I'm hear to help you. He found my listing on VRBO and don't worry, we give you time to comply. When I spoke to him this week he said my place would need a central fire alarm. Which means pull boxes, replacement of all sensors with low voltage commercial items, snaking low voltage wiring all over the house, exposed wire molding, and control box in the basement. Also, no sleeping in lofts or any area without an door. Each sleeping room needs to have a door. This is all bad...but then it gets worse. Once your house is considered commercial you need to apply for permits to do any upgrades to the state and not local. Need professional designs just like working in NYC. Lots of red tape. Surprising there is not a revolt over this. Okemo/Ludlow has been the focus area and now expanding to Killington area. Give Dave Green a call and ask him....just don't tell him where you live! I called and talked to an alarm company that does system upgrades and he is the one who told me about all the requirements. When you talk to the firemarshall, he points you to the firemarshal website but you can't read the codes directly.

Hope someone finds me wrong...

Green replaced retiring Butch Sutherland....I dealt w/ him a few years back....as decent and straight shooting a gent as you'd ever want to meet. ( Butch)...my paperwork for a wood fireplace insert permitting thing blah blah blah...sat dormant on his desk for quite a while...called me directly....is it finished?..."Yes" said I. Who signed off?..."ME". Im a GC ..... Green asked NOTHING further. Faxed me the paper(s) for a signature. LOng story short ( polar opposite of Madshatter)?....less truly IS more. Until someone knocks on your door?....respond to NOTHING.

[brownman]

Hoping nobody here has to deal with Landon Wheeler.
Deputy Chief State Fire Marshall a couple years ago.
.. a total Richard head.

[yiddle on da fiddle]

Not Rutland County...and NOT Dep Chief.