Sprinkers - the facts

Effective: Fire sprinklers are by far the most efficient and effective safety devices available, having a better than 97% success rate world-wide

Life Safety Record: In the UK, statistics show that there has never been a multiple loss of life in a fully sprinklered building
 
Early alarm: More than 50 per cent of all fire casualties are either young or old, or physically incapacitated. In conjunction with smoke alarms, fire sprinklers sound the alarm when they go off so they increase the time people have to escape or be rescued

Inexpensive: Residential fire sprinklers cost less than two per cent of an average new house – or about the price of good carpeting

Reliability: They are designed to last for 50 years and the chance of accidental operation, due to manufacturers’ defects, in service is *1:16,000,000 (one in sixteen million). Less than your chance of winning the lottery!

Operational facts: Each sprinkler is individually triggered by the heat of the fire and the system will gain control of the fire long before the Fire and Rescue Service is called. Only the sprinkler head near to the fire goes off - NOT all of them

Limited water damage: Sprinklers use much less water than the Fire and Rescue Service. Because the sprinkler system tackles the fire immediately, it only has a small fire to deal with. A fire sprinkler uses between 1/25th and 1/100th of the water used by each fire hose – so, in the event of a fire, sprinklers will minimise water damage

Easy to install: Modern residential sprinklers are small, neat and unobtrusive and visitors are seldom able to spot them – concealed versions are now available

Construction trade-offs: Sprinklers can save on construction costs because, under the Building Regulations, larger compartments or rooms may be constructed. Structural fire protection can also be reduced