How Much Does Fire Safety Inspection Really Cost You?
In 2017, fires were the reason for an estimated 23 billion dollars in property damage. Damage not caused by wildfires falls to 10 billion, but with an amount that large, the difference doesn’t matter. Fires can be destructive, causing a large amount of property damage as well as a lot of harm to people. While fires aren’t unusual, we never expect them to happen where we work or live. But as an owner of a business, you need to be prepared not only for a fire but for your fire inspections.
Perhaps it may seem like you’re throwing money away. Especially if you’re paying for a fire inspection when your business has never had a fire. Just remember: you’re saving yourself money by protecting your building and employees.
Let’s look at the real costs of getting your annual fire inspection done. As well as the costs of avoiding the problems that will occur without a fire inspection.
How Often Do We See Fire Inspectors?
The most common fire inspections are required to be completed annually, although some business will require more frequent inspections. Annual inspections typically look at fire extinguishers, emergency lights, signs, fire alarm systems, and sprinkler systems.
Some sprinkler systems may require quarterly visual inspections. But there are different annual and quarterly functionality tests that can be performed as well. While the costs of these inspections can be different from place to place, it depends on the size of the facility and the amount of equipment and devices to be inspected.
The Cost of Fire and Life Safety Inspections
A small building might cost somewhere between $100-$1000 each year to inspect. Inspections should include exit door signs, fire alarms, sprinklers, and extinguishers. A larger building with a several hundred devices might cost a couple thousand dollars.
Again, when you’ve never had a problem, a couple thousand dollars feels like a lot of money to have a fire inspector come by to tell you that you have no issues, and your building is up to code. But it’s necessary.
Cost of Fire Code Fines
If your inspector finds a problem with your building, you could get hit with a fire code violation, which can come with a fine if it is not fixed within the allotted amount of time. Fines will vary in size depending on the seriousness of the violation, the number of violations, and how long it takes to be resolved.
On the conservative end of the scale, violations can be $20 each, but on the high end, it could be as much as ten times that amount. $200 may not seem as big as $10 billion did, but when you’re thinking about multiplying that by your 50-500 devices, the costs can really add up.
If you had 500 $20 violations, you would be paying $10,000. If you had 500 $200 violations, that number is going to jump to a massive $100,000.
Insurance Costs
In most cases, you will not be able to get insurance for your building without a fire inspection. While it might be impossible to calculate how much money your business is losing by not operating, we know that you’ll be in the red.
Fire Restoration Costs
A building that has had serious fire damage is not always unsalvageable. There are steps that can be taken to repair fire-damaged buildings, but that can be very expensive.
Fire clean-up can be anywhere from a few hundred dollars to almost $100,000 depending on the size of the facility that has been damaged. While insurance can help cover these costs, if you didn’t get a fire inspection, it’s possible your insurance company will deny the claim.
Fire and smoke restoration costs an estimated $4.70 per square foot. A typical office in an office building is between 150-250 square feet. So, let’s do that math. That’s between $705 and $1,175 per office.
If your building has 75 employees, that’s between $52,875 and $88,125 for fire and smoke restoration just for the offices. That’s before your bathrooms, hallways, storage areas, and everything else.
The Price Tag of Fire Safety Inspections
We’ve covered how much your fire inspection can cost. We know that sometimes it’s can be expensive. A few thousand dollars for those larger facilities are something that needs to be considered within the budget, and it’s going to affect how your business functions.
If your building burns to the ground, this will (obviously) impact the price enormously. If you have trouble coming up with $4,000 for a fire inspection, you’re really going to be scrambling to come up with $100,000 or more for repair or replacement of a fire damaged building.
What’s the Cost of Fire Sprinkler Inspection and Testing in a Large 5-Story 200,000 Sq. Ft. Commercial Building?
A 5-story 200,000 Sq. Ft. building is equipped with a riser, control valve, and water flow switch on each floor. This facility also has one parking garage, fire pump, dry pipe, and wet pipe fire sprinkler system. The fire sprinkler system, devices, and components all require three quarterly and an annual inspection and testing. The annual inspection requires technicians to visually inspect the fire sprinkler heads throughout the entire building. Since this service takes longer than the quarterly fire sprinkler inspection and testing, it also makes it the most expensive. Additionally, the fire pump requires three quarterly and an annual inspection and testing too. The average cost of fire sprinkler inspection and testing in a 5-story 200,000 Sq. Ft. commercial building is $3,000-$3,500 a year.
How Much Does Fire Sprinkler Inspection and Testing Cost in a Large Campus Facility?
A large campus facility can contain a combination of low and high-rise buildings. It’s important to understand the types of buildings on the campus because multiple story buildings will increase the cost. In this example, the large campus facility consists of 3 multiple story buildings, 2 low-rise facilities, and has 3 fire pumps. A campus with a total of 600,000 Sq. Ft. fire sprinkler inspection and testing costs between $11,500-$13,000.
Circumstances that Increase Pricing
Additional Fire Suppression Systems- Many large facilities have a pre-action system that safeguards their server room. Since these systems are connected to the fire alarm system, they require additional technicians for pre-action system testing. On average, one server room protected by a pre-action system will increase the cost of fire sprinkler inspection and testing by $600-$1,000 a year. If the fire alarm and pre-action system are tested by different companies, the cost will increase even more.
Building Accessibility- Buildings with locked areas that technicians can’t easily access adds to the labor time. Likewise, facilities with restricted areas that require an escort will increase the price. If certain parts of the building are only accessible during off-hours, companies may charge a higher labor rate to test during these times.
Environment for Flowing and Draining Water- Technicians need a place to put the water that they drain or flow from the fire sprinkler system. The simplest way to dispose of the water is into a drain or direct it to another area through a hose. Unfortunately, some facilities don’t always have an easy way to drain or flow water. This requires technicians to fill barrels with water. This will increase the cost of fire sprinkler inspection and testing. It takes a team significantly longer to test fire sprinkler systems when they must constantly stop and empty water from barrels.
There are several factors to calculate when estimating the cost of fire sprinkler inspection and testing in your facility. Comparing your facility to these three typical building should give you a general idea of what fire sprinkler inspection and testing might cost in your facility. Also understand there are unique circumstances such as pre-action systems, building accessibility, and the environment for flowing and draining water that can massively affect the price.
What’s the Cost of 5-Year Internal Fire Sprinkler Inspections?
What items do companies examine and what accounts for the cost of 5-year internal fire sprinkler inspections? Fire protection service contractors perform 5-year internal pipe inspections services. There are also a few circumstances that can increase pricing. Understanding these factors will help to establish the base price for 5-year internal fire sprinkler inspections.
5-Year Internal Pipe Inspection Services- There are several types of fire sprinkler systems, but each system has similar devices and components that require 5-year Internal Pipe services. Some of the items that require services and factor into the total cost of 5-year fire sprinkler internal inspections are the following.
Check Valves- There are check valves on every system located in the sprinkler riser rooms and on each floor of the building. It typically costs around $150 to internally inspect a check valve.
Fire Department Connections- FDCs require hydrostatic testing of the pipe from the outside of the building to the check valve for 2hrs every 5 years. Fire protection contractors must drain the fire sprinkler system to perform this test. They also must cap off the pipe prior to the check valve and reassemble it at the conclusion of the test. The internal inspection of the FDC check valve can be completed during the test. Since testing the FDC takes a bit of time and requires a few steps to complete the cost is around $500.
Gauges- Gauges on fire sprinkler systems require replacement or recalibration. It is most common and cost effective to replace a gauge. Recalibration could cost more if the company must send the gauge out because they don’t have a calibration device onsite.
Backflow Preventers- 5-year backflow preventer testing typically costs $200-$250. This internal inspection ensures that all components operate correctly, move freely, and are in good condition.
System Valves- Fire protection system technicians must isolate alarm, deluge, dry, pre-action system valves to perform internal inspections in addition to cleaning and inspecting associated strainers and restricted orifices. This costs around $500-$600 per system. Each additional check valve will cost about $150.
Circumstances that Affect Pricing
Depending on the type of system, technicians will need to drain a portion or the entire system to perform the internal inspection. Fire sprinkler technicians open and inspect the system valve, riser, cross main, and branch lines. The cost of 5-year internal fire sprinkler inspections increases when the inspection requires removing a section of pipe. This is typically a problem with threaded pipes which are found in older systems. Fortunately, in some situations, companies may be able to use an alternative method that utilizes x-ray, ultrasound, or remote video equipment.
Some obstructions found during internal fire sprinkler pipe inspections include slime, debris, scale, biological growth, and corrosion. Unfortunately, debris such as wood, gloves, and even paint brushes are left behind by careless workers. Raw water sources also contribute to debris buildup like sand, sticks, and stones. These types of raw water filled systems also can contain biological growth. Mussels and clams can cause major obstruction issues in systems. Another issue associated with freshwater sources is that they contain calcium and magnesium salts that can build up scale in the pipe. In terms of fire sprinkler pipe corrosion, there are 9 types: uniform, pitting, galvanic, crevice, selective leaching, erosion, environmental cracking, intergranular, and MIC. If any of these obstructions are found these issues will require repairs. This will impact the overall pricing of internal sprinkler inspections.
Base Pricing for 5 Year Internal Fire Sprinkler Inspections
This is the average pricing for the cost of internal fire sprinkler inspections in small, medium, and large facilities. The cost could increase based on complications during the internal pipe inspection and whether the system requires repairs.
Small Facility- A small office with 1 alarm valve, FDC, check valve, and 2 gauges cost $1000-$1250.
Medium Facility- A two-story building with a single riser and zone control assembly on each floor costs $1500-$1750.
Large Facility- A warehouse type facility with multiple risers, systems, and valves costs $2000 or more for internal fire sprinkler inspections.