It has barely been forty-eight hours since a local restaurant was destroyed by fire. Only the badly damaged walls remain. Fortunately, there were no injuries.
Had this building been fully sprinklered, there would only have been minor smoke and water damage. Instead, the local fire marshal estimates the property damage at one million dollars. I’m sure that the decision not to sprinkler the building was based on the fact that the a sprinkler system was not required by code and such a system would have cost in the neighborhood of $15,000 – $20,000 in today’s dollars, or two percent of the property loss. False economy if you ask me.
Had the building been sprinklered, there wouldn’t be employees facing the prospect of no job for the upcoming holidays. Secondly, there would only have been a week or so of lost revenue instead of the months that the owners now face. I am concerned, as well, that the owner may not be allowed to rebuild exactly the structure that burned, as local zoning regulations may force them to make significant design changes and endure the long approval process that goes along with them.
All this being said, I would encourage business owners to consider the ramifications of saving a few bucks up front only to face losing fifty times as much and install a functioning fire suppression (sprinkler) system. It may be your livelihood that goes up next.
See also my post on this topic from last August.
Charlottesville Architect 
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