Developing Incentives for the Voluntary Installation of Fire Sprinklers in One-and Two-Family Dwellings

Presented to the

Florida Building Commission

State of Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation

by

Forrest J. Masters, Ph.D., P.E., masters@ce.ufl.edu, (352) 392-9537 x 1505

Kurtis R. Gurley, Ph.D., kgurl@ce.ufl.edu, (352) 392-9537 x 1508

David O. Prevatt, Ph.D., P.E. (MA), dprev@ce.ufl.edu, (352) 392-9537 x 1495

Project Lead: Kurtis R. Gurley

1. Issues

· Fire sprinkler systems in one-and two-family dwellings has been an issue of significant conflict over the last decade

· While both the ICC and NFPA model codes now require fire sprinklers in one-and two-family dwellings as a base level of protection, many states, including Florida have legislatively removed the requirement from the code due to concerns over cost arising out of the average $1.22 per square foot for these systems.

· A study is needed to investigate the creation of an improved cost benefit arrangement whereby the builder/developer/owner may voluntarily install fire sprinklers in one-and two-family dwellings and is allowed to pursue other design alternatives

· This voluntary win-win solution would achieve the life safety and property protection of a fire sprinkler system while allowing the builder/developer/owner to offset some or all of the costs of the fire sprinkler system with alternative design flexibility

· The purpose of this study would be to develop alternative code provisions in the FRC/IRC due to the increased protection provided by the residential fire sprinkler system

2. Statement of Work

• Review the 2015 IRC and the 5^th Edition of the Florida Building Code Residential for potential code changes that would incentivize the voluntary installation of fire sprinkler systems in one-and two-family dwellings and townhomes while increasing the overall level of life safety and property protection
• Develop estimates for the typical incentive savings amounts
• Develop code change proposal language and technical justifications suitable for the ICC 2018 cycle and FBC 6^th Edition processes

3. Budget

Table 1. Budget

Budget	Amount
Salaries	$3,093
Fringe Benefits	$878
Equipment	$0
Utilities	$0
Travel	$1,000
Misc. (contractor)	$20,000
Indirect costs	$2,497
TOTAL	$27,468

The miscellaneous budget category refers to the cost of hiring a fire protection engineering firm.

Table 2. Breakdown of the hourly compensation rate

Person	Hours	Hourly Rate	Fringe	IDC	Total
K. Gurley	40	$65.93	$18	$8	$3,707
Admin Asst	20	$22.80	$7	$3	$661

Research personnel time and will be reported and certified using a “loaded” rate computed from the following table. Note that the indirect cost shown in Table 1 is computed from the indirect cost in Table 2 + the indirect cost associated with the travel and miscellaneous categories.

4. Deliverables

· A report providing technical information on the problem background, results and implications to the Code submitted to the Program Manager by May 15, 2015

· A breakdown of the number of hours or partial hours, in increments of fifteen (15) minutes, of work performed and a brief description of the work performed.  The Contractor agrees to provide any additional documentation requested by the Department to satisfy audit requirements.