I received a copy of the article yesterday. It appears that the system costs in 1977 was about $0.50 per square foot; that equates to $1.71 in 2006 dollars. Without much detail on the design of the system it is hard to say how visionary Mr. Patton was, but $1.71 would still be a bit low for a hospital today.....but certainly not $0.35 as he claimed.
Paul J. Pinigis, P.E. Chief Life Safety Engineer -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Chris Cahill Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2007 11:55 AM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: Wow Well I have the report or to say an article from Hospitals Feb 1, 1977 published by the American Hospital Association - No the date is not a typo. So the date is the first things that jumps out so pricing needs to be dated. It's written by Patton and the Director of the Division of Architectural Services for the State of Kansas. It describes a very large hospital not unlike we'd think today. The article is scarce on detail we could "learn" from. To that end here are some interesting items. I paraphrase "Most industries face double inflation...labor and materials are expected....for the past 10 years new safety regs have been added...So a smoke detector costs more and more of them are required...double inflation." Or perhaps those setting the budget didn't keep up with the times, sound familiar today? I paraphrase again "After being 10 mill over budget on a $50 mill project (in 1977 dollars) the State Arch investigated other facilities for ideas....hired FPE (Patton)...substituted new sprinklers for conventional sprinkler systems...smaller pipe saved money...also provided composite safety plan." I was riding BMX bikes and playing Little League in 1977 anyone have an idea on what new vs. conventional means. EC I don't think existed. I don't think old style vs spray style was the issue. Could mean pipe schedule vs. calcs to trim pipe size? Any ideas? But see below sounds hard to believe the cost of smaller pipe saved that much when at least today labor is the expensive part. Continuing "sprinkler primary safety tool...eliminated excessive fire protection...fire proofing...alarms....others were modified.." "Basement only standard sprinkles in original bid...$403,000, 140,000 sq. ft. (in 1977 dollars)....new sprinklers throughout $431,136, 850,000 sq.ft. (I don't know if that includes the bsmt or not) plus saving on all other fire items....$5 mill total savings to project." Even back then sounds like someone really screwed up in the specifying the first time around. Overall I'd say it's very pro sprinkler, especially for the time. Further considering the time it's perhaps an early example of performance based design, alternate methods which really saved the big portion of the money. Although, I still have doubts about the sprinkler costs above. Chris Cahill, P.E. Fire Protection Engineer Sentry Fire Protection, Inc. 763-658-4483 763-658-4921 fax Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mail: P.O. Box 69 Waverly, MN 55390 Location: 4439 Hwy 12 SW Waverly, MN 55390 -----Original Message----- From: Chris Cahill [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, November 21, 2007 1:40 PM To: '[email protected]' Subject: RE: Wow I have one coming as well. Note he said it was DESIGNED for $0.35. I'm sure he meant designed and installed but on face value that's not what was written. Of course it doesn't say what year either. Maybe in 1950's dollars when you really needed 4 heads in a 16'x16'room because the EC technology wasn't around. We'll see. Chris Cahill, P.E. Fire Protection Engineer Sentry Fire Protection, Inc. 763-658-4483 763-658-4921 fax Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mail: P.O. Box 69 Waverly, MN 55390 Location: 4439 Hwy 12 SW Waverly, MN 55390 _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field) _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field)
