A controversial advertisement urging law makers to back mandatory sprinklers in new homes has been rejected by a US newspaper.

The ad by the National Fire Protection Association comes after the Pennsylvania House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly last week in to remove the current sprinkler mandate for all new one and two-family homes, which only came into force in January. Mandatory sprinklers for all new town houses, which came into effect in January 2010, would remain in place.

The news comes after a spate of tragic fire deaths in the state, the most recent of which was the death last week of seven children in a house fire.

The vote by the House is part of a backlash against the recent growth in mandatory sprinkler legislation across the United States. The NFPA Fire Sprinkler Initiative attributes the move to powerful lobbying from “special interests”, notably housebuilders.

“We thought that warranted some public attention,” said Lorraine Carli, NFPA vice president for communications. “We designed this ad and wanted to place it in a newspaper. The area newspaper rejected the ad saying that it was not in their best interest to print an ad that mentioned the incident involving the seven children.”

In welcoming the vote in the senate in favour of HB 377, which aims to reform the existing law, the president of the Pennsylvania Builders Association, Ray Venema, said:

“We are thrilled that [the] legislation had such strong bipartisan support. We thank our Pennsylvania House members for listening to what their constituents had to say and voting today for the consumer’s right to choose. This is a true victory for affordable housing and private property rights.

“We believe HB 377 represents a good compromise between controlling costs for the consumer and protecting the lives of residents and firefighters.”

According to the association, the key points of the reformed legislation are: the sprinkler mandate is removed from new one and two family homes (but remains in force for townhouses); there is increased fire protection provided for lightweight floor assemblies; and builders are required to offer sprinkler systems to buyers at point of sale.

The measure is now due to go before the state Senate for what is termed a “concurrence vote”.