(KMSP) - The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday the state’s indoor sprinkler mandate invalid. The mandate required all new homes 4,500 square feet or larger to have indoor sprinklers.
The court ruled in favor of the Builders Association of the Twin Cities, who filed a petition in early 2015 challenging the Department of Labor and Industry’s new rules. Member s of the BATC argued the new rule was unnecessary and would only make homes more expensive for homebuyers.
“The sprinkler mandate was unnecessarily impacting the housing market and home ownership access for thousands of Minnesotans,” BATC executive director David Siegel said in a statement.
Approximately 30 percent of the new houses in the metro area meet or exceed 4,500 square feet, the Star Tribune reported.
In its decision, the court ruled the mandate was arbitrary and the Department of Labor and Industry failed to address the costs of complying with the rule.
Read the decision here.