#ThinkSprinkler – The benefits of sprinkler systems
Fire sprinklers provide automatic and immediate onsite protection. To make an informed choice, it is critical that organisations understand the risks and consider the benefits that fire sprinklers can bring to protecting industrial and commercial buildings.
In doing so, they provide employee safety, business continuity and resilience that extends to the UK economy.
1. Protect assets
Sprinklers protect people, property, machinery and supplies.
2. Save money
Losses from fires in buildings protected by sprinklers are estimated to be only one sixth of those in unprotected buildings.
3. Effective and reliable
Sprinklers control or extinguish fires in 99% of cases.1
4. Reduced disruption
Sprinklers reduce costs and disruption to the business and community.
5. Cost-effective installation
The average cost of installing a sprinkler system in a commercial or industrial building will be between £33 per square metre and £35 per square metre. 2
6. Insurance discounts
The combination of the reduced potential for loss and lower disruption would factor into fire insurance premiums.
7. Design freedom
Sprinklers help reduce building design costs through increased flexibility of internal layout and larger compartment sizes.
8. Less water
Sprinklers use much less water to extinguish a fire than fire brigade hoses – and lead to much less water damage.
9. Environmental protection
Sprinklers protect the environment from damaging emissions of smoke or large amounts of contaminated water. 3
10. Peace of mind
Sprinklers mitigate the risk of fire and provide businesses continuity.
1 Efficiency and Effectiveness of Sprinkler Systems in the United Kingdom: An Analysis from Fire Service Data, NFSN, May 2017
2 An Environmental Impact and Cost Benefit Analysis for Fire Sprinklers in Warehouse Building, BRE Global, December 2013
3 Assessing the role of fire sprinklers, Bureau Veritas, August 2011