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Home My WebLink About3. COW Agenda Item: Update on Residential Fire Sprinklers Ê·´´¿¹» ±º Ó±«²¬ Ð®±°»½¬ Ú·®» Ü»°¿®¬³»²¬ ×ÒÌÛÎÑÚÚ×ÝÛ ÓÛÓÑÎßÒÜËÓ TO:JOHN MALCOLMFIRE CHIEF FROM:FIRE MARSHAL DATE:APRIL 29, 2011 SUBJECT:UPDATE ON RESIDENTIAL FIRE SPRINKLERS Background In June of 2003, the Village of Mount Prospect adopted a residential fire sprinkler ordinance making itone of only 15 communitiesin the Chicago area to do so. Since adopting this ordinance143 single-family homes, 104 townhomes, and 944 condominium unitshave hadfire sprinkler systemsinstalled.Since the inception of this ordinance the Fire Department has documented six fire sprinkler saves (commercial and residential).Sadly, during this same time period there were three deaths and 12 injuriesin the Villageasa result of fires in single-family homes, all without residential sprinklers. Nationwide from 2003 through 2009, there have been 19,330 deaths, 92,225 injuries and almost $50 billion worth of property damages as a result of residential fires. In 2009, 92 percentof all civilian structure fire deaths resulted from home structure fires . Statistics illustrate the installation of a home fire sprinkler system reduces the risk of death due to fire by approximately 80 percent. Homes havingfire sprinklersalso reduce property loss an average of 71 percent per fire. Current Status of Residential Sprinklers Since Mount Prospect adopted theresidential sprinkler ordinance, an additional 56 communities in the area have followed suit and adopted similar ordinances. This brings the current total in the Chicagoarea to 71. Nationwide, there are currently 361 municipalitiesthat require residential sprinklers. In addition,the States of California, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and South Carolina (2014) have all adopted residential sprinkler ordinances. The International Residential Code 2009 edition (IRC) wasrecently revisedrequiring all newtownhomes and single-family homes built after January 2011 toinclude a residential sprinkler system. This revision makes residential fire sprinklers a nationally Residential Fire Sprinkler Update April 29, 2011 Page 2 recognized safety standard for new single-family homesandtownhomes.Most municipalities throughout the United States adopt the IRC as their building codefor new single family homes.These recent IRC changes are significant becauseas municipalities adopt futureIRC editions as part of their ordinance updates,residential fire sprinklerswill be required. Revisions to the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) 13D,Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems in One-and Two-Family Dwellings and Manufactured Homesand the further development of CPVC (plastic) piping have led to a reduction in the cost of home fire sprinkler systems. New code amendments to NFPA 13D have allowed for more flexibility when designing and installing residentialfire sprinkler systems. Additionally, the emergence of CPVC piping in home fire sprinkler systems has greatly reduced the cost of residential fire sprinklers over the past eight years. Installation costs, however, still remain as one of the most heavily debated points regarding fire sprinkler systems. Costsand Savings of Residential Fire Sprinkler Systems A great deal of debate exists regarding the initial installation costs associated with home fire sprinkler systems. In 2006, the Fire Department conducted a survey regarding the costs of installing residential sprinklers in Mount Prospect. The results of the survey concluded the average cost of a fire sprinkler system was $1.80 per sprinkled square foot.At the national level, a study completed by the Fire Protection Research Foundation in September of 2008indicatedfire sprinkler systemcostsrangedfrom $0.38 to $3.66 per sprinkled square footfor an average of $1.61per sprinkled square foot. These surveys illustrate thathomes in Mount Prospect are within the installation cost range when compared to nationwide data. An important cost savings measure the Village undertook for residential fire sprinklers was the revision of backflow preventer requirements. By changing the configuration of the backflow preventer and allowing the use of a smaller backflow preventer,the cost of installation was reduced by over $1,000 per home. Although the Village could not remove the backflow preventer from the fire sprinkler system completely (it is required per the State Plumbing Code), it significantly reduced the initial installation cost for homeowners. The costs associated with maintaining a residential fire sprinkler system are primarily due to the backflow preventer annual testing, which is also required by the State Plumbing Code.The cost of this annual backflow certification can range from $100 to $205. This breaks downto approximately$8 to $17 per month. It is important to keep in mind that homes with lawn sprinkler systems have the same backflow preventer testing requirements as those with residential fire sprinkler systems. The cost for both tests areessentially equivalent. Residential Fire Sprinkler Update April 29, 2011 Page 3 In addition to this test, however, lawn sprinkler systemsrequireannual maintenance each year in preparation for the winter months.In this case,the cost to maintain a lawn sprinkler system isgreater on average than a fire sprinkler system. Homeowners havingfire sprinklers in their home also have the potential toreduce insurance rates. On average,homeowners can receive a five to seven percent reduction in their annual premiums as a result of having a residential fire sprinkler in their home.Many insurance companies are evaluating the benefits of residential sprinkler systems to see if they can offer additional discounts to homeowners. Moving Forward Nationwide,many municipalities now recognize the benefits of residential sprinkler systems and havetherefore begun to offer incentives for homeownersto install these systems. A 2010 national study completed by the Fire Protection Research Foundation offers some assistanceto municipalities by providingincentive ideas forcontractorsand residents. Some of these incentiveideas include reductions in building permit fees,fire ratingsin building assemblies(fire wall ratings), fire hydrant requirements, minimum road widths, fire flow requirements, cul-de-sac widths, etc. Some incentives the Villagecould consider for residential sprinkler systeminstallations are: 1.Reducing buildingand/or sprinkler system permitfees for new homes protected by residential sprinklers. 2.Reducing building assemblyratings (firewall ratings)in single family homesand new townhomes protected by residential fire sprinklers. 3.Increasing the spacing between fire hydrants for residential developments with firesprinklers(ultimately requires fewer hydrants). 4.Reducing fire hydrant water flow requirementsfor residential developmentsprotected by fire sprinklers. These incentives could save money for the contractor and ultimately the homeowner. Residential sprinklers are a relatively new concept in community fire protection, but have already proven their worth. The number of states adopting future IRC code editionswill continue to increase.As a result, the number ofmunicipalresidential fire sprinkler ordinances adopted will be far greater in the next eight years as compared to the previousyears. The purpose of fire sprinklers is to save lives and property. As residential sprinkler system installations increaseover time, it will likely have the same effect as commercial sprinkler systemsdotoday, which is a significant reduction in the lossof lives and property due to fire. Bryan Loomis BL/nn