Variance for additional conforming unit

[Matthew Teixeira]

Looking to potentially acquire a new property but it is on public records as a 4 unit building but there are 5 units. I've been told the city has said a sprinkler system needs to be installed to get a variance to add the 5th unit. Are there any problems that could arise if I continued on with the property without doing anything or could there be a way to get the conforming use variance without adding a sprinkler system? The entire property has been updated within the last 10 years and it would be too costly at this point to add a sprinkler system. Property is located in MA