Home Fire Sprinkler Cost Assessment - 2013
Newport Partners, September 2013
This report updates the report, Home Fire Sprinkler Cost Assessment (Fire Protection Research Foundation 2008). The primary purpose of this study is to review current home fire sprinkler system costs against the 2008 benchmark study to gain a better understanding of how increasingly widespread adoption of sprinkler ordinances impacts system cost. Using a larger sample size, the current study attempts to gain a better understanding of the impact of sprinkler ordinances on home fire sprinkler system cost and other factors that affect system cost. The current study examines 51 homes in 17 communities; the 2008 study examined 30 homes in 10 communities. In the 2013 update, the average cost per sprinklered square foot was $1.35. In the 2008 report, the average cost per sprinklered square foot was $1.61.
Residential sprinkler system costs, 2008-2013
Video: Kathleen Almand of the Fire Protection Research Foundation talks about the sprinkler cost report and how it compares to a similar study conducted in 2008.
Home Fire Sprinkler Cost Assessment Final Report
Newport Partners, September 2008
Residential fire sprinkler ordinances have been adopted by several hundred U.S. communities for use in single-family dwellings. Such systems have been shown to provide significant life safety benefits, however the installed cost of these systems remains as a point of uncertainty and a potential barrier to broader adoption. Informal estimates of typical installation costs can vary widely, and influence decision makers’ views on the viability of sprinkler systems in new homes.
In order to provide information on this topic, and to understand the factors that may influence the costs and hence impede the widespread use of residential fire sprinklers, the Foundation undertook this study to provide a national perspective on the cost of home fire sprinklers by developing data on installation costs and cost savings for ten communities distributed throughout the United States. The study also explores the range of insurance premium discounts which are available to home owners with sprinkler systems in their houses. In this 2008 report, the average cost of sprinkler systems to the homebuilder, in dollars per sprinklered square foot, was $1.61.