FIRE SPRINKLER DESIGN PROGRAMS INSTALL

Ideally, a sprinkler system design will be completed before supply lines are in place.

Large underground supply lines to houses allow for smaller and less complicated sprinkler lines, which reduce material and labor costs. The supply line determines how much money any given sprinkler system will cost the sprinkler installer, builder and homeowner. Verifying the size and distance of the water supply line to the home is thus indispensable to appropriately planning a system. The flow required to meet this pressure will change depending on the size of the sprinkler orifice, but for a typical residential sprinkler that flow will be 13 gpm (gallons per minute).

FIRE SPRINKLER DESIGN PROGRAMS INSTALL

The more complicated the system, the more labor will be required to install it.ДЇortunately, the above determinants, and thus the costs, can be limited during the design process by considering underground water supplies, builder techniques and design techniques.ДЄccording to NFPA 13D, the minimum pressure requirement for a standard residential fire sprinkler head is 7 psi (pounds per square inch).

Installation time: Labor can add considerable cost to a fire sprinkler system.

Number of sprinkler heads: The more sprinkler heads required in a home, the higher the material costs.

Pressure losses: Depending on how much pressure is lost in a homeвЂ™s supply pipes, this problem can mean increased meter sizes or supply-pipe diameters, or even costly storage tanks and pumps.

With states like California and Maryland, along with other municipalities nationwide, officially adopting these standards and requiring fire sprinkler systems in all new one- and two-family homes, builders have no choice but to face the costs head on.ДЇire sprinkler system costs have three main determinants: NFPA Standard 13D, developed in 1973, affects one- and two-family dwellings, manufactured homes and townhomes and aims to prevent flashover, or the explosive ignition of flammable gases released by burning materials in the home. NFPA Standard 13R, developed in 1989, governs detection and control of fires in multifamily residential buildings and residential occupancies up through four stories in height. As a result, they are gradually adopting National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards that govern fire sprinkler installation. In recent years, however, state and local governments have increasingly come to recognize fire sprinkler systemsвЂ™ value. This hesitance to incorporate fire sprinklers largely results from the cost, which ranges between one and two dollars per square foot for residential systems. Yet, historically, fewer than two percent of new homes include them.

Residential fire sprinkler systems can save lives as well as prevent financial, physical and emotional damage. Fortunately, several steps in the design process, if undertaken early enough, can minimize the financial sacrifice.

Increasing mandates to include fire sprinkler systems in new residential construction are naturally affecting bottom-line costs.

Fire sprinkler design programs