I'm thinking I might get back into contracting, pain in the butt that it is,'cause George is right, there's gold in them SFDs. I'll be partnering with a licensed plumbing contractor though if I do. We'll get the cherries of both and the dregs for the rest.
On 2/24/08, George Church <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Excellent point- or really, observation of impending reality. > > The Forum's constable pointed out in a recent email that WHEN the IRC adopts > SFD, EVERY SPKR COMPANY WOULD HAVE TO INSTALL SYSTEMS IN ABOUT 350 SFD's A > YEAR. And it is very likely that's 2 years away. If not, its 5 with a > smattering of locals floating in intermittently. > > Any of you ready for another 350 systems a year- even if you did the 13d EZ > calcs? At only 10 heads each, and $100/hd, that's another $3.5m in volume > you'd have to ramp up for- are you on schedule to get the crews and design > for that ready? If its 20 heads each @ $200/hd that'd be $14m- that gives > you a range for house sizes and market variances. > > And that's every single sprinkler contractor in the country. While SAC or > Western States can handle that company wide, there are a lot of mom and pops > that are going to blink and see plumbers lining up to do hotels and apts and > all because we created a market and didn't service it. > > glc > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Steve Leyton > Sent: Sunday, February 24, 2008 5:52 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: RE: ICC Version of 13d > > > All: > > About 8 or 9 years ago, a former fire chief turned residential sprinkler > advocate coined the Phrase, "The plumbers are coming!" He and I joked > back then about the "Chicken Little" parable and he was predictably > ridiculed and criticized - sometimes not so quietly - in some corners of > the fire sprinkler community. But Pat Coughlin was right; starting > with the introduction of the Wirsbo pre-engineered MP system, there has > been steady movement in the cycling of 13D and the adopted Plumbing and > Residential Codes toward homogenizing plumbing and residential sprinkler > systems. Pat was a founder and Executive Director of both the > Residential Fire Sprinkler Institute an Operation Life Safety, as well > as FPC's Man of The Year in 2000, I think. Pat introduced me to the > management of Wirsbo at the launch of their AquaSafe system and I have > been watching the evolution of the residential market with keen interest > ever since. And over the course of this period of time, with so many > changes in product technologies, changes in U.L. listings, unbelievable > growth in the market, adoption of new model codes, etc., there has been > one rock-steady and unchanging constant. That being the > institutionalized denial of these changes by many (most?) in the > sprinkler industry. > > Does anyone on this forum really think that we - the entire unified > industry - can possibly address all of the new work that will be created > if IRC adopts mandatory sprinklers for one and two family homes? > Folks, there are people in our industry right now bidding tract-sized > SFD's at $3-4 per s.f. AND HIGHER. Homebuilders are screaming bloody > murder nationwide; between the cost of 1" meters and the apparent lack > of interested bidders, they can't seem to buy residential sprinklers > anywhere near the $1-2 per s.f. we've been saying for years they should > pay. Our industry claims to want mandatory residential sprinkler codes > but we haven't done squat about building our infrastructure, growing our > human and technological resources or preparing for a wave of new > business that could double the size of our industry in some markets > OVERNIGHT. And because we haven't done a damned thing, the market > should wait around for us to pull our heads out of the sand? No, the > market is going to do what all free enterprise markets have done > throughout the history of this country: it's going to follow the path of > least resistance. Does anyone think that these large residential > plumbing and HVAC contractors are $150 million companies by accident? > Does anyone reading this think that SFD systems are so complicated that > we're all really glad they made us take calculus in high school and > college? Any particular reason why a 13D design has never been > confused with a booster rocket? Yeah - 'cause it AIN'T. > > Homebuilders control a 1/3 stake in the IRC, if I'm not mistaken. The > most pragmatic among them realize that if it's not this cycle, it will > likely be next cycle, but sprinklers in SFD's are inevitable. So > (unlike our community) they're getting their wagons into a preemptive > circle. And I've got some really bad news for those who are > organically opposed to the notion that anyone but a dedicated sprinkie > can/should be the installer of record for a residential sprinkler > system. Not only are there multi-purpose design guidelines proposed in > the IRC, but I encourage everyone to check out 13D, Log #50 (Item 54) of > the current residential cycle. It's a prescriptive (i.e. pipe > scheduled) table design method for sprinkler systems in SFD's and the > committee's vote in ROP was a resounding "accept". The tables > recommended for adoption are the same ones proposed for and used to > substantiate the IRC design basis, and would further harmonize the IRC, > IPC and 13D. > > Note to self: The Plumbers are coming ... and they have dollar-signs in > their eyes. > > Steve Leyton > Protection Design & Consulting > > > [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) > -- Ron Greenman at home.... _______________________________________________ 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)
