Residential Fire Safety Systems Offer Profitable Service Addition

For Immediate Release

Sept. 15, 2008 Contact: Ingrid Mattsson Sr. Manager, Advertising/Brand (800) 321-4739 ext. 4249 [email protected]

Residential Fire Safety Systems Offer Profitable Service Addition for PHC Contractors By Joel Williams

Most plumbers have never considered installing residential fire sprinklers. After all, how can a professional plumbing, heating and cooling (PHC) contractor compete with fire sprinkler contractors who have a license, special equipment and complicated design knowledge?

“You’d be surprised how easy it can be to move from setting sinks to installing residential fire safety systems,” says Kelly Fahey, co-owner of Washington-based PacWest Sales, Inc. “Plumbers already have the knowledge, tools and, more importantly, the solid working relationships with home Plumbing contractor Steve Svedarsky (left) builders, to prosper in a market downturn.” credits Uponor rep Kelly Fahey (right) with helping him to complete 20 fire sprinkler jobs and to secure an additional 30 multi- family units — He notes that because plumbers are all in less than four months in 2007. already a pivotal trade for builders, the Residential Fire Safety Systems Offer Profitable Service Addition Page 2 market is ripe for PHC contractors to step up Three Steps to and claim this profitable line of work. The Increased Revenue beauty of multi-purpose fire safety systems, Since the tubing and fittings used in many residential fire safety explains Fahey, is that because they systems are the same as those used in plumbing, contractors combine the potable cold-water lines with already know most of the basics the sprinkler system, they are a natural of sprinkler installation. To begin making money from sprinkler extension for the plumbing trade. A fire installations, plumbing and heating contractors simply need: sprinkler connects to the plumbing-supply 1) “Level 1” Classroom line just like any other fixture or fitting. Training (4 hours): This product knowledge training is usually conducted by the system PacWest and Fahey represent Uponor, manufacturer or its local sales representative and provides a which pioneered the concept of residential, solid overview of design, installation and testing non-stagnant, multi-purpose systems in the procedures. The contractor must United States a decade ago. Uponor also become familiar with a few key, sprinkler-specific tools. AQUASAFE® Fire Safety Systems – both the 2) Project Design: Sprinkler Network version and the recently introduced equipment manufacturers, such as Uponor, use construction data Looped version – use crosslinked provided by the installing contractor to generate the polyethylene (PEX) tubing to feed both the project-specific sprinkler designs. Uponor’s certified fire sprinkler sprinklers and the cold-water plumbing designers charge below-market hourly prices for this service, fixtures in a home. which is then included in the formal project bid.

LOW-HANGING FRUIT 3) Installation and “Level 2” On-the-job Training: Experts from sprinkler equipment “Multi-purpose fire safety systems are manufacturers accompany the low-hanging fruit for new-construction- plumbing contractors on their first jobs to ensure a proper oriented PHC contractors, looking to squeeze installation. more dollars from fewer jobs than in years past,” Fahey says. “Today, a plumber might do half the number of homes he did when the market was stronger. PHC contractors can recover some of this lost revenue by learning the basics of fire sprinkler installation and securing their first jobs in less than a month.”

That’s precisely the path that plumbing contractor Steve Svedarsky took when the market showed signs of slowing last year. Residential Fire Safety Systems Offer Profitable Service Addition Page 3 “Like in any business, plumbers protect their turf,” explains the second-generation PHC contractor from Puyallup, Wash., and owner of Monarch Plumbing. “When we realized there was a shrinking pool of jobs, we had to figure out a way to expand our revenue base. Since we were already using PEX exclusively for our plumbing and radiant floor heating work, the fundamentals of sprinkler installation were very straightforward.”

For product training and design support, Svedarsky turned to Fahey, who not only had the industry knowledge, but also helped him convince the local fire marshal that PEX-fed multi- purpose fire sprinkler systems performed as well as traditional stand-alone systems. “Once plumbers have the required training and/or certification, it is hard to avoid the [residential fire sprinkler] business,” contends Steve Svedarsky. “The fire marshal was skeptical that the multi-purpose system could deliver the required water volume to each of the sprinkler heads,” recalls Svedarsky. “After he learned more about the system from PacWest and watched it exceed his code requirements, the fire marshal was impressed and pleased. After all, fire sprinklers save the lives of both homeowners and fire fighters.”

In fact, Svedarsky has learned that some fire officials actually prefer multi-purpose systems, since consumers cannot inadvertently shut off fire protection to their homes.

“Because of the dual purpose of combination systems, homeowners know their fire protection systems are working each time a toilet is flushed, a faucet is used or the lawn is watered,” says Svedarsky, who notes that this feature also eliminates health concerns over stagnant water commonly associated with stand-alone systems. Residential Fire Safety Systems Offer Profitable Service Addition Page 4

MANDATED DEMAND

Overall, the addition of fire sprinkler installation has been a boon for Monarch and now accounts for roughly 10 percent of company sales. Owner Svedarsky credits Fahey with helping him to complete 20 sprinkler jobs and to secure an additional 30 multi-family units — all in less than four months in How Residential Fire Sprinklers Work 2007.  Home fire sprinklers are technologically very advanced, but “Once plumbers have the required the way they work is very simple. A fire sprinkler has no moving parts; it training and/or certification, it is hard to basically acts as a plug that releases water when the surrounding avoid the business,” contends Svedarsky. temperature reaches a certain point “While local codes drive the majority of the — usually about 155°F. work, I know of four or five instances in  Sprinklers do not activate in response to smoke. Only the high which the PHC contractor sold sprinklers temperature of a fire will trigger a sprinkler to open, and only the into a job as an upgrade where they were sprinkler closest to the fire will operate. not required by code.”  Studies show that 90 percent of fires are contained by the operation Research from the Home Fire of just one sprinkler. (Source: http://www.nfpa.org.) Sprinkler Coalition bears out these claims.  A single sprinkler can control or A 2005 study found 45 percent of U.S. extinguish a fire in seconds, using approximately 15 gallons of water homeowners preferred a home with fire per minute. (Fire department hoses sprinklers; moreover, nearly three in four release up to 250 gallons per minute per hose.) survey respondents thought sprinklers  Nationally, on average, home fire increased the value of a home. sprinkler systems add 1% to 1.5% of the total building cost in new construction, according to the Home Not surprisingly then, more than 300 Fire Sprinkler Coalition. (http://www.homefiresprinkler.org) local governments have enacted residential fire sprinkler ordinances for all new single- and multi-family residential homes, commonly referred to as National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standard 13D, according to Jayson Drake, fire safety product manager for Uponor, which is also a leading manufacturer of radiant floor heating and PEX plumbing systems. And the number of ordinances across the nation is likely Residential Fire Safety Systems Offer Profitable Service Addition Page 5 to grow with recent revisions to the International Residential Code, which will require sprinklers in all new one- and two-family homes as of Jan. 1, 2011.

“Demand will grow dramatically as more builders and homebuyers become aware of the quantifiable benefits of these systems,” says Drake. “This growth will also be fueled by jurisdictional mandates, as cities and fire departments realize the economical, life-saving advantages of PEX-based multi-purpose residential sprinkler systems.”

Drake notes that because multi-purpose PEX systems combine plumbing and fire safety lines into the same integrated system that uses flexible PEX tubing with fewer connections, they can save from 35 to 65 percent in installation time over stand-alone, rigid CPVC systems. (Source: U.S Department of Commerce and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, NISTIR 7277.) Moreover, since multi-purpose systems are fed by a home’s domestic cold-water supply, there is no need for check valves, backflow preventers, or a separate water meter, further cutting installation time and costs.

EDUCATION IS KEY

According to Fahey, educating local building inspectors and code enforcers about the benefits of multi-purpose fire safety systems can be a challenge.

“Some of the more foresighted municipalities have written ordinances allowing multi-purpose fire protection systems to operate off of a single water meter, which enables the builder to realize a significant savings over traditional stand-alone installations, as a second meter can cost upwards of $5,000,” explains Fahey.

Another challenge in expanding residential fire safety systems is the piecemeal code requirements.

“Unlike the Uniform Plumbing Code that mandates a universal standard, NFPA 13D sets a minimum life-safety standard, and each Residential Fire Safety Systems Offer Profitable Service Addition Page 6 municipality has the ability to add requirements unique to its jurisdiction,” notes Fahey, who adds that he keeps track of specific municipal requirements through an internal database.

“While the fire marshal often reviews the sprinkler plan and conducts the inspection, some states still allow the plumbing inspector or building department to approve the fire suppression system.”

Uponor is a leading supplier of PEX-a plumbing, fire safety and radiant heating and cooling systems for the residential and commercial building markets across North America and Europe. Uponor employs 4,700 people globally. Uponor Corporation is listed on the OMX Nordic Exchange in Helsinki, Finland.

Uponor, Inc. is headquartered in Apple Valley, Minn. For more information, visit www.uponor-usa.com or call (800) 321-4739.

Uponor Ltd. is based in Mississauga, Ontario. For more information, visit www.uponor.ca or call (888) 994-7726.

For more information about Uponor, visit the Uponor media room at http://www.lnccommunications.com/uponor-media.html

For editorial assistance, contact John O’Reilly c/o LNC Communications LLC at (815) 469-9100; e-mail: [email protected]

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