The inclusion of sprinklers as a measure to fight outbreaks in fire is not included in the countries policies. Although this is so, the many advantages that come with it lead to a need for its inclusion. The sprinkler will not act only as an alert factor in case of a fire happening but also as a mitigating factor which is the most important thing in fire management. Insurance companies, homeowners, and potential buyers of homes have a benefiting factor in this inclusion. Manual firefighting methods have been seen not to be the answer to losses occurring due to fire. This has led to states trying to adopt a policy of fire prevention rather than fire suppression. A study that was carried out in the United States showed that in 2009 only 377,000 residential fires occurred. These fires caused deaths of 2590 civilians and 13050 injuries which would have been mitigated to a larger number if sprinklers had been installed in these homes.
The cost of installation is not high
Most homeowners prefer to have just the smoke detectors installed in their homes during construction. The main argument they have is that installation of the sprinkler will be costly making the cost of acquiring a home much higher. The modern sprinkler is estimated to cost a homeowner $1.61 per square foot in new construction (W&H Pacific 16). This compared to the cost of constructing a new home will amount to a 1% to 2% increase in the price of constructing a home. One of the factors that have led to a reduction in the cost of sprinklers is the material used in piping. The old aluminum piping has been replaced with plastic piping. Countries are also trying to include legislations that will see the cost of residential sprinklers go down. Some of this legislation is a reduction of taxes on equipment used in making the residential sprinkler. Another cost reduction measure is that homeowners can install a residential sprinkler and share it. This makes sure that the cost of maintaining and installing the meter will be shared between the homeowners. The residential sprinkler is also installed by plumbers thus not requiring costly hiring of experts to do the work for you. All these reductions in cost should make the constructor not evade the inclusion of the residential sprinkler in designing new houses. The constructor should also see the inclusion of the sprinkler as a means of increasing the value of his property by a bigger percentage than what he or she is spending in installing the sprinkler.
In some countries, those who build houses away from the public water hydrant are supposed to build their own hydrant by low. If these homes adapt the residential sprinkler which is cheaper than the water hydrant they will not need to construct the hydrant. A case would be a residential building being built with a long driveway. This house would be so far from the main road which would make it also to be far from the water hydrant. This reduction of cost will be advantageous to both the house buyers and the builders.
Proposal for the elimination of occupancy separation requirement
Construction costs can be reduced greatly by the inclusion of residential sprinkler systems in the house. The occupancy separation requirement is included mostly to reduce spread and damages caused by fire when it occurs. Builders can be allowed to eliminate these occupancy separations to try and eliminate the extra cost incurred in the installation of sprinklers. This reduction of cost will also be transferred to buyers who will purchase the homes at a lower cost due to the reduction in the construction requirement. The association for the builders can propose such legislation which would be plausible in the future with the increased security in homes from fires.
Reduction of losses incurred in case of a fire outbreak
Fire breakouts are known to cause both material and human life loss. People while installing or looking at the option of installing the residential sprinkler do not see it as a factor that will prevent human loss from occurring. A study conducted by the Illinois fire inspector’s association noted that less than 1% of fires that were occurring happened in homes without any residential sprinkler. The same report identified that in 1997 alone United States alone experienced 1,795,000 fires, killing 4050 civilians and injuring another 2350. The direct property damages due to these fires were estimated to be $8.5 billion. This cost including other overhead costs translated to a cost higher than $205 billion (Ford 42). Taking those figures and doing the calculation that only 2% of homes with residential sprinkler fires did occur leaves homeowners with no choice but to adapt to the technology. The figures also show that losses incurred on fires are tremendous both in the form of human loss and property loss. This research led the state of Illinois to start advocating for mitigation factors in homes of which one of which is the installation of the residential sprinkler. The sprinklers also reduce deaths caused by inhalation of smoke when fires occur. Immediately a fire takes place smoke spreads throughout the rooms and so anybody within those rooms might suffocate. To avoid this sprinkler are designed to spray water on the source of smoke reducing the chances of it spreading. The sprinkler at this place will have reduced the chances of loss of life and also property loss by the fact it will eventually put off the fire (Van and Bruce 12).
These facts show that most homes without sprinklers incur heavy losses of may be loss of their homes as a whole or part of it. After these losses this people are supposed to reconstruct or do some repairs to their homes which might be costly than the 2% cost of the home of installing the sprinkler initially after constructing the homes. People argue that fire might occur but cause minimal damage to the home but this minimal damage might occur a couple of times thus out doing the cost of mitigating the damage with residential sprinkler.
Insurance prices reduction
Research on the impact of residential sprinkler on insurance covers it showed a reduction in the amount of premiums paid in homes where they were installed. This reduction is brought about by the fact that the number of property losses that occur in homes fitted with sprinkler is minimum. Residential sprinkler was seen to reduce the price of insurance in Oregon by 8% to 16% on home owner’s insurance (Ford 42). Insurance companies are also trying to revise the formulas they use to calculate to calculate the premium payable by home owner to include residential sprinkler as a factor. Insurance companies are known to look if the person has put some mitigation factor before a loss has occurred. Home owners with residential sprinkler can bring to the attention of the insurer the existent of them wherever they are taking their cover. This will make the companies offer a tailored made insurance cover to fit their current situations. The residential sprinkler is not only advantageous to the home owners but also to the insurance companies. Study has already shown a positive trend in reduction of losses suffered in homes with residential sprinklers. These homes most of the time when fires occur the sprinkler activates itself before loss is suffered. This means that the insurance companies do not have many claims to settle due to losses incurred in such accidents. The company can use this money and reinvest it somewhere else. Insurance companies are also known not only to insure homes but also to insure human beings against any injuries suffered in case of accidents. Deaths and injuries that have also been suffered in these homes tend to be minimal adding another advantage to the insurer. The constructor also has an advantage due to the reduction in insurance cost. This is because before sale of the houses he or she might decide to insure them to spread the risk of loss of property before ownership passes to another person. This makes him a beneficially of the discounted insurance premium.
Cost of reselling homes is high
Contractors and home owners might decide to purchase a home at the current market value and resell it in the future. Homes fitted with residential sprinkler tend to fetch high prices when they are put back in the market compared to other home constructed at the same period with the same structural outlook. This happens due to the fact that most people when they are buying a home would like to put safety as one a factor in determining which home to buy or not. The public has also been given civil education on the different dangers of fires and their mitigation factors. In future buyers of homes will always put this into consideration ensuring that the contractors did everything right. Also with the benefits that come with reduction of insurance premiums on homes with residential sprinkler people will tend to go for this home due to the long term benefit accrued from this.
Mortgage and loan acquisition becomes easier
Most home owners buy their homes through mortgage companies which charge some interests according to the risk. The mortgager will always consider the risk of losing a property before extending any loan to the borrower (Frain and Thomas 12). Borrowers are charged with the responsibility of showing mitigation on the losses. Installation of the residential can be one of measures to show mitigation. This will make the mortgage company reduce the interest charged on the mortgage due to the fact of loss of the property due to fire is minimized. Houses also constructed with the residential sprinkler have also shown a fact to attract more mortgager because they feel their money is safe there. Due to the law of demand and supply and market forces controlling the prevailing market prices consumers will benefit at last in purchasing their homes. The home sellers at this point will also have an advantage of selling their homes quickly due to the attractiveness to the mortgage lenders. These advantages will out do the 1% to 2% that the constructor incurred in installing the residential sprinklers.
The home owner might decide to borrow a loan using the house as collateral. This would mean the banks would visit the home and do a valuation of the home and a risk analysis assessment. The absence of fire mitigating factor would be one of the reason that would make the bank view the lending to the client being risky and thus increasing its lending rate to the person. This translates to home owner paying more in the form of interest than another person who acquired the same amount of loan for the same period. The problem of borrowing shows the long term benefit of fitting the sprinkler in a home due to unforeseeable future requirements and outcomes.
Improvement in technology of making residential sprinkler
Most people fear that by installing the sprinkler in their homes there will be a danger of protruding pipes. This notion is brought about by the fact of heavy piping done in industries to install fire mitigation facilities. The modern spring sprinkler is designed in a way that it can fit on the walls. The improvement in technology has allowed for these sprinklers to be made in different colors example black, grey or any color. This improvement on color allows for their camouflage wherever they are installed and so home owners will not have a problem of colors in their homes. Consideration has also been taken in the mode of installation where sprinklers are designed to be installed either on the wall or ceiling. Companies are also allowing clients who would like custom make of residential sprinkler to go to their manufacturing plants and obtain sprinkler that match their need. All this changes alleviate the fear that a home might lose value by the contractors due to the presence of ugly protruding pipes in residential homes. The inclusion of these sprinklers will lead to increase in prices of the home by more than the 1% to 2% percent cost increase incurred in construction of the residential home. This transforms to a more profitable business to the builders due to the safety of the homes they are making.
Another improvement has been made to prevent backflow of sprinkler water. To reduce this improvement has been to include a simple check valve which reduces the additional cost of including a reduced pressure zone backflow preventer.
Fear of water spillage and high water bills
Most people fear that the sprinkler will cause their water bills to rise. The other fear is that the sprinkler might cause water spillages in home so causing more harm than the fire would cause. The working of the residential sprinkler is in such a way that when a fire starts it sends a burst of heat that activates a sprinkler head. The heat does not activate the entire sprinkler but they are activated individually as the need arises. This ensures that a small fire does not activate all the sprinklers averting the problem of flooding the house with water and also high water bills.
The other fear is that sprinkler might activate accidentally due to unnecessary heat (James 3). The manufactures of the sprinkler have made it in a way that it can only be activated by a burst of heat strong enough to melt the seals on the sprinkler head. After the seal is broken that is when the sprinkler will spray and not before that. This also averts the fear of spillages occurring in houses due to the normal heating.
The cost of water consumed in case of a fire will be outdone by the cost that would have been incurred had the fire occurred. Home owners are encouraged to install the sprinkler and not look at the short term effect of increase in water bills and increase in size of water pipes supplying homes with water. This cost will be incurred once and eventually be recovered with time due to the benefits of the system.
Client base and reputation of the company increases
Mortgage builders are known to provide homes with consideration of profitability on their behalf. The fact that the homes of a certain builder enjoys a huge client base this makes prices to go up due to the forces of demand and supply in the market (W&H Pacific 20). This will translate to high profit to the builder which will have been brought by constructing a safe home. The huge client base will not be short term but also add on the reputation of the construction company which will be long term. Companies are supposed to plan for the long term but not the short term benefits that occur due to some cost cutting measures like non inclusion of residential sprinkler by construction companies. Companies should look at a future where they will require to be rated in their past works. Some of this past works are likes this homes that may be they included the safety measures or did not. Companies should take into consideration that in the modern world businesses are supposed to include their profiles while applying for any new contract. After inclusion of this profile the client may like to see the state of those structures included in the profile and it would be damaging to the construction company it realizes a big percent of homes it had constructed are down due to not following the safety measures.
Conclusion
The benefits enjoyed by fitting residential sprinklers in the home are enjoyed by all the groups in the economy. This makes it better to install this sprinkler to avert danger of loss of property and human life. The contractors are having another advantage where the property is viewed to be more valuable in the market compared to others. It has been seen the installation of the sprinkler has long term benefit than short term benefit to both the constructor and the home buyers. This benefit outdoes the benefit of reducing on the construction cost of a property initially. In the paper, there has been a review of how the addition of sprinklers as a gauge to fight outbreaks in fire deserves to be amongst the many countries policies on fire management. This is a factor that has been seen to come with a lot of advantages.
References
Ford, Jim. “One city’s case for residential sprinkler.” Systems NFPA Journal, 91 (1997): 41-44. Print.
Frain, Thomas. Costs, effects, and benefits of residential sprinkler systems: A study of DE Soto County. Memphis: University of Memphis, 2001. Print.
James Shamon. “Advancing residential sprinklers.” First Word, 8 (2008): 4-6. Print.
W&H Pacific. Study of Cost implication associated with a voluntary residential sprinkler system for a new construction. Portland: W&H Pacific, 2009. Print.
Van Cleemput, Bruce. Residential sprinkler systems save lives and protect property. Emmetsburg: National Fire Academy Executive, 1995. Print.