Excellent point- or really, observation of impending reality. The Forum's constable pointed out in a recent email that WHEN the IRC adopts SFD, EVERY SPKR COMPANY WOULD HAVE TO INSTALL SYSTEMS IN ABOUT 350 SFD's A YEAR. And it is very likely that's 2 years away. If not, its 5 with a smattering of locals floating in intermittently.
Any of you ready for another 350 systems a year- even if you did the 13d EZ calcs? At only 10 heads each, and $100/hd, that's another $3.5m in volume you'd have to ramp up for- are you on schedule to get the crews and design for that ready? If its 20 heads each @ $200/hd that'd be $14m- that gives you a range for house sizes and market variances. And that's every single sprinkler contractor in the country. While SAC or Western States can handle that company wide, there are a lot of mom and pops that are going to blink and see plumbers lining up to do hotels and apts and all because we created a market and didn't service it. glc -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Steve Leyton Sent: Sunday, February 24, 2008 5:52 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: ICC Version of 13d All: About 8 or 9 years ago, a former fire chief turned residential sprinkler advocate coined the Phrase, "The plumbers are coming!" He and I joked back then about the "Chicken Little" parable and he was predictably ridiculed and criticized - sometimes not so quietly - in some corners of the fire sprinkler community. But Pat Coughlin was right; starting with the introduction of the Wirsbo pre-engineered MP system, there has been steady movement in the cycling of 13D and the adopted Plumbing and Residential Codes toward homogenizing plumbing and residential sprinkler systems. Pat was a founder and Executive Director of both the Residential Fire Sprinkler Institute an Operation Life Safety, as well as FPC's Man of The Year in 2000, I think. Pat introduced me to the management of Wirsbo at the launch of their AquaSafe system and I have been watching the evolution of the residential market with keen interest ever since. And over the course of this period of time, with so many changes in product technologies, changes in U.L. listings, unbelievable growth in the market, adoption of new model codes, etc., there has been one rock-steady and unchanging constant. That being the institutionalized denial of these changes by many (most?) in the sprinkler industry. Does anyone on this forum really think that we - the entire unified industry - can possibly address all of the new work that will be created if IRC adopts mandatory sprinklers for one and two family homes? Folks, there are people in our industry right now bidding tract-sized SFD's at $3-4 per s.f. AND HIGHER. Homebuilders are screaming bloody murder nationwide; between the cost of 1" meters and the apparent lack of interested bidders, they can't seem to buy residential sprinklers anywhere near the $1-2 per s.f. we've been saying for years they should pay. Our industry claims to want mandatory residential sprinkler codes but we haven't done squat about building our infrastructure, growing our human and technological resources or preparing for a wave of new business that could double the size of our industry in some markets OVERNIGHT. And because we haven't done a damned thing, the market should wait around for us to pull our heads out of the sand? No, the market is going to do what all free enterprise markets have done throughout the history of this country: it's going to follow the path of least resistance. Does anyone think that these large residential plumbing and HVAC contractors are $150 million companies by accident? Does anyone reading this think that SFD systems are so complicated that we're all really glad they made us take calculus in high school and college? Any particular reason why a 13D design has never been confused with a booster rocket? Yeah - 'cause it AIN'T. Homebuilders control a 1/3 stake in the IRC, if I'm not mistaken. The most pragmatic among them realize that if it's not this cycle, it will likely be next cycle, but sprinklers in SFD's are inevitable. So (unlike our community) they're getting their wagons into a preemptive circle. And I've got some really bad news for those who are organically opposed to the notion that anyone but a dedicated sprinkie can/should be the installer of record for a residential sprinkler system. Not only are there multi-purpose design guidelines proposed in the IRC, but I encourage everyone to check out 13D, Log #50 (Item 54) of the current residential cycle. It's a prescriptive (i.e. pipe scheduled) table design method for sprinkler systems in SFD's and the committee's vote in ROP was a resounding "accept". The tables recommended for adoption are the same ones proposed for and used to substantiate the IRC design basis, and would further harmonize the IRC, IPC and 13D. Note to self: The Plumbers are coming ... and they have dollar-signs in their eyes. Steve Leyton Protection Design & Consulting [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field) _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field)
