Washington Surveying & Rating Bureau  Who Are We?  What Do We Do?  How Does Insurance Rating Promote Sprinkler System Installations and What Obstacles Are in the Way? David Bruell, Vice President Patrick Conroy, P.E., Senior Public Protection Field Representative

Washington Surveying & Rating Bureau  Who Are We? 100 years old, private, non-profit, public service 100 years old, private, non-profit, public service  What Do We Do? Rules, Forms Rules, Forms Inspect (“Survey”) Buildings Inspect (“Survey”) Buildings Evaluate Community Public Protection Evaluate Community Public Protection Aggregate Loss Data Aggregate Loss Data Our focus is Commercial PropertyOur focus is Commercial Property  Primary Concern (with regard to sprinklers) Effective Property Protection (also saves lives) Effective Property Protection (also saves lives)

WSRB’s Role 3 Basic Strategies  Evaluation of Individual Buildings Construction (wood vs. concrete) Construction (wood vs. concrete) Occupancy (restaurant vs. office) Occupancy (restaurant vs. office) Protection (sprinklers, alarms, hydrants) Protection (sprinklers, alarms, hydrants) Exposure (nearby hazards) Exposure (nearby hazards)  Community Fire Suppression Features  Analysis of Past Loss Data to Predict Future Losses

WSRB’s Public Service Role  Encourage actions that reduce the loss of life and property due to fire through credits and debits to insurance rates  RCW : “Premium rates for insurance shall not be excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory”  Provide an inducement for loss prevention (credits and debits)

Evaluating Sprinkler Systems  NFPA 13 Cost can be amortized through insurance credit Cost can be amortized through insurance credit  NFPA 13D, 13R Credit is less, cost is harder to amortize Credit is less, cost is harder to amortize  Over time, general rate reductions will occur  Insurers want to know: Will it be Effective Fire Protection? Will it be Effective Fire Protection? Will it operate when it has to? Will it operate when it has to?

Public Protection Classification (PPC)  Based on the capabilities of the fire department AND the water systems  A lower classification generally results in lower insurance premiums  We start by determining Fire Flow – what’s required, what’s available  Sprinklers in buildings reduce the Fire Flow requirement – but…..

WSRB uses the Insurance Industry’s standard methodology for determining Fire Flow  Primarily used for PPC purposes  Developed empirically from actual fire loss data  Based on “conflagration theory”  (i.e.) Amount of water needed to extinguish a fully involved structure fire and prevent spread to nearby structures  Appendix III-B of UFC and IFC developed from same formulas

DWELLING FIRE FLOW Residential areas For residential areas with one- and two- family dwellings, we determine the needed fire flows by considering the distance between buildings:

DWELLING REQUIRED FIRE FLOW DISTANCE REQUIRED FF < 11 feet separation GPM feet separation GPM feet separation GPM > 100 feet separation500 GPM

DWELLING REQUIRED FIRE FLOW ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR REDUCTIONS  Sprinkler system must conform to NFPA 13D/13R (life safety, sprinklers not required in all areas, inadequate protection from exposure)  No fire flow reduction for individual dwellings if interspersed with similar non-sprinklered 1 and 2 family dwellings  No fire flow reduction for dwellings greater than 2 stories in height (basements not included)  Fire flow requirement can be reduced up to 50% but no lower than 500 gpm or automatic sprinkler demand at base of riser

DWELLING FIRE FLOW DWELLING FIRE FLOW SOME ADDITIONAL INFORMATION  Typically, a dwelling sprinkler requirement has been the result of a code alternate decision by the authority having jurisdiction  When the code requirement being mitigated is not fire flow related, the fire flow requirement is not reduced  Typically, 1 and 2 family dwellings represent the lowest current fire flow requirement in any given area of a community  Ancillary structures such as strip malls, club houses, restaurants, condominiums and maintenance facilities usually have a larger fire flow requirement and drive the need for fire flow

FIRE FLOW CALCULATIONS FOR PPC COMMERCIAL PROPERTY  Majority of commercial structures in a community are analyzed and the fire flow requirements are calculated  An average is taken of the top required fire flows in a community and is considered the Basic Fire Flow (BFF) for the community  The Basic Fire Flow of the community drives the evaluation requirements for the fire department and the water purveyors  Basic Fire Flow can be reduced by installing sprinkler systems  The maximum fire flow reduction is 50% (same as IFC appendix) but this percentage is not a slam dunk (usually around 35-40%)

FIRE FLOW CALCULATIONS FOR PPC  Most communities are unenthusiastic about retroactive sprinkler installation  The installation of sprinklers in new buildings will reduce fire flow requirements over time  The major exception is planned communities, such as Dupont and Suncadia  Such communities realize immediate reductions in the Basic Fire Flow requirements and therefore lower requirements for their respective fire departments and water systems  Once again, the most insurance savings are tied to commercial property

Conclusions Many insurance companies provide premium reductions when sprinkler systems are installed  Reduction credit is small for individual dwellings  Credit can be significant and applied to all properties in communities with appropriate sprinkler ordinances  Credit could be larger for: Sprinkler systems installed without density and other trade-offs Sprinkler systems installed without density and other trade-offs Sprinkler systems designed with property protection in mind Sprinkler systems designed with property protection in mind Sprinkler systems with verifiable annual (or better) testing and maintenance in place Sprinkler systems with verifiable annual (or better) testing and maintenance in place Communities willing to mandate systems in all properties Communities willing to mandate systems in all properties Patrick Conroy, P.E. – Senior Public Protection Field Representative David Bruell – Vice President