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Municipalities
We provide plan review services for local jurisdictions.
We specialize in fire protection consulting
and loss prevention inspections.
We also do automatic fire suppression system
consulting.
The Design and Layout of Fire Sprinkler Systems
By Mark Bromann
- Great for NICET preparation!
- an excellent primer for the design engineering technician in his first two years of work
- loaded with information
- click the cover to
buy the book.
CRC Press LLC of Boca Raton, Fla (561)994-0555, www.crcpress.com
Other things we do:
- Code consulting
- Legal testimony
- Project management
- NICET certified
Statistics:
- The cost of a residential fire sprinkler system ranges from 1.40 to 2.00 per square foot
- Eighty percent of all fire deaths in the United States and Canada occur in the home
- Note- 4% of all new homes are built with residential sprinklers in the U.S.
- Arsonists kill over 500 people every year
- 85 percent of residential fires are controlled by 1 or 2 fire sprinklers
- The average residential fire loss costs $1689 per sprinklered home, versus
$9571 per non-sprinklered home in a community serviced by a
full-time fire department
FIRE STATISTICS
While more than 6000 Americans died in home fires in 1960, that number decreased
to 3360 in 1997.
Buildings that are totally sprinklered enjoy generous insurance rate reductions.
Buildings over 75 feet high represent special fire safety problems since
firefighting and rescue operations cannot reach upper stories from the building
exterior in the event of a fire.
The amount of water which is put on a fire by fire department hoses in an
unsprinklered building fire, is tens to hundreds of times more than that which
sprinklers would have discharged.
Heat-producing appliances and related equipment are among the most prevalent
causes of fire because they operate at temperatures above the ignition
temperature of many common materials.
In 1977, there were 31 states that had no detector laws. By 1983, only 13 states were still without any detector laws.
- Eighty percent of all fire deaths occur in the home.
- The first organized company of firefighters in America took place in Boston in 1679.
- Smoking materials are the leading cause of fatal home fires.
- Of the victims of fatal home fires, 26% are less than 10 years old, 21% are senior citizens.
- Public apathy plays a large role in keeping U.S. fire statistics as large as they are.
- Initial water pressure - At a pressure of only 15 psi, a standard (K=5.65) sprinkler will discharge 22 gallons per minute, or an average
of 0.17 gpm/sf on an area of 130 square feet. At 30 psi, the discharge will be 31 gallons per minute using the same sprinkler, for an
average density of 0.24 gpm/sf with sprinkler coverage of 130 sq. feet.
CAUSES OF UNSATISFACTORY SPRINKLER SYSTEM PERFORMANCE
- Water shut off/ Accidental valve closure.............35%
- System underdesigned for level of occupancy.....14%
- Inadequate water supply....................................10%
- Inadequate system maintenance.................8%
- Obstruction to sprinkler spray distribution......8%
- Partial system design only...........................8%
- Faulty building construction.......................6%
- Antiquated sprinkler system.........................2%
- Delayed (slow) sprinkler activation................2%
- Defective dry-pipe valve .................................2%
- Sprinkler system frozen ...................................1%
- Other misc. or unknown causes................... 4%
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Email:Mark Bromann
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