Harold Hicks, PhD, PE *U.S. Fire Administration*
*Water Supply Systems and Evaluation Methods* Volume I: Water Supply System Concepts *October 2008* pp. 130 *Economic Advantages of Installing Automatic Sprinkler Systems* The *economic *advantages both to communities and individual property owners realized by protecting structural properties is *no small thing *as identified in the following examples and understanding related to property insurance and water supply. Approximately 30 years ago, in the City of Fresno, California, the City Fire Marshal, the municipal planning department, the water department, and other municipal agencies joined in developing an innovative Mater Plan for Fire Protection. The plan was based around features of the insurance industry *Grading Schedule *combined with an integrated system of codes and ordinances. Prior to development of the master plan, the fire department budget represented approximately 13 percent of a total municipal budget of over $14 million dollars. At that time, the fire department was rated Class 1, but the water department was only rated a Class 3. The codes and ordinances adopted as part of the new plan included a "dangerous-building ordinance" which gave the fire marshal authority to condemn property unsafe, a fire hazard, or unsanitary or that presented a clear and present danger to the community. Owners of condemned property had a choice of selling their buildings to an urban renewal agency or renovating the building to code standards, which included *mandatory automatic sprinkler systems. *In addition, all new construction required complete automatic sprinkler systems under the Federal Urban Renewal Agency Agreement with the city. (7) At the time of this action, Fresno covered 21 square miles with a population of 115,000. The fire department maintained 68 career firefighters on duty at all times after full implementation of the mater plan development work for assistance in the sprinkler enforcement program. At the end of the program, 95 percent of all buildings in the urban renewal area were completed with automatic sprinkler protection. This area alone covered 40 square blocks of nonresidential property. Fire losses were reduced at least 22 percent a year after implementation of the sprinkler program, and the fire department retained a Insurance Class 1 rating. All of this work and code enforcement results in more efficient distribution of municipal funds under the total municipal budget, and the water department classification rating changed from a 3 to a 1. The end result was reduced insurance premiums for all commercial classes of property in the city and added 10 percent to 30 percent insurance reduction for properties actually protected by automatic sprinklers. words are fine but not mine, can't warrrant my name to it this time, _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [email protected] To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[email protected] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field)
