NFPA Journal - October 2016 Home Fire Sprinkler Special Issue - 74


SPECIAL ISSUE
HOME FIRE SPRINKLERS

installed; about 90 percent of them are
stand-alone systems.
Before California became the first
U.S. state to mandate the installation of sprinklers in all new one- and
two-family dwellings, in January
2011, major legwork was needed.
"We created three task-force groups
and brought together many folks and
key players," said Tonya Hoover, the
former state fire marshal for California,
in a 2014 interview with NFPA Journal.
"Our California Building Industry
Association was at the table; we had
water purveyors at the table; we had
builders, we had fire protection engineers, we had building officials and fire
officials. We tried to make sure that
we were hearing from as many folks
as possible, not just the good of home
p Home sprinklers have been found to have no impact on municipal water supplies.
fire sprinklers, but maybe some of the
One approach that eliminates the need
Other logistical issues related to
more challenging pieces."
for a backflow preventer is to connect
water can be surmounted. For example,
The result? "It took about a minute
the sprinkler system to the toilet tank
when Westminster, Colorado, adopted
and a half to adopt the package when
located the greatest distance from the
its new codes in 2010, implementawe went before the building standards
water supply. With each flush, water
tion of the single-family detached fire
commission on January 12, 2010,"
is drawn through the sprinkler line,
sprinkler section was deferred until
Hoover said.
according to the HFSC.
January 2013. "This was because state
To Feinglas, the benefits of home
Another consideration is that
rules at the time only allowed pipefitsprinklers vastly outweigh logistical
when home sprinklers are employed
ters to install the sprinkler systems,"
issues or concerns about their use.
That's why
Westminster
charges neither a
fee for installing
home sprinklers
gallons
gallons
gallons
nor an annual or
Amount of water
Amount of water
Amount of water used
monthly extra
used by home
used by fire
by a fire department
usage fee. After
sprinklers, on
departments, on
to extinguish a fire in
some initial
average, to control
average, to control
a large, relatively new
reluctance, both
a house fire
a house fire
home in Connecticut
residents and
builders have
come to accept,
in the event of a fire, the resulting
Feinglas said. "Since multipurpose
and in many cases embrace, the new
wastewater has fewer persistent
systems were part of a plumbing
requirements, Feinglas said.
pollutants, such as heavy metals, and
system, the state had to have time to
And if it's further evidence you need,
fewer solids. A study by FM Global
modify rules to allow for plumbers
Feinglas has that, too. "Construction is
for HFSC found that sprinklers
to install fire sprinkler systems as a
booming," he said.
can reduce fire damage by up to 97
part of the plumbing system." The
percent, which means less waste is
issue was resolved, and since then 286
Stephanie Schorow is a writer based
in Boston.
sent to landfills.
homes have been built with sprinklers

340

74

NFPA JOURNAL OCTOBER 2016

2,935

280,000

Photograph: iStockPhoto
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - October 2016 Home Fire Sprinkler Special Issue
