2014 Fire, Life Safety Study

2014 Fire & Life Safety Study

Seven fire and life safety trends that matter to engineers

More than 350 engineers from various job functions related to fire and life safety systems responded to Consulting-Specifying Engineer’s 2014 Fire and Life Safety study. The research tracks the use of fire and life safety products and systems and provides a snapshot of the engineering community’s outlook on such systems. Consulting-Specifying Engineer sees the following as the seven most important high-level findings impacting the fire and life safety industry today:

  1. More than 65% of fire and life safety engineers agree that the various ways to interpret regulations and codes is a critical challenge when designing systems. Source: Consulting-Specifying Engineer 2014 Fire & Life Safety Study, March 2014; Sponsored by SiemensSystems specified: More than 70% of engineers responsible for decisions related to the design fire and life safety systems specify detection systems, such as fire and smoke detectors, control systems, and dampers.

  2. Specifications: 69% of engineering firms are consistently using open fire and life safety systems specifications in which engineering approval and/or explicit brand use is required.

  3. Challenges: More than 65% of fire and life safety engineers agree that the various ways to interpret regulations and codes is a critical challenge when designing systems.

  4. Design factors: 98% of engineers rank product quality at the top of their list when selecting one fire and life safety system over another.

  5. Third-party influence: The need to incorporate the design specifications from local authorities having jurisdiction (AHJs) has only increased over time. 71% of projects are required to follow the conditions of AHJs, up 11% from 2013.

  6. Building structures: More than 55% of fire and life safety engineers specify product selections for office buildings, industrial facilities, and government buildings.

  7. Design value: 44% of engineering firms have specified more than $1 million in fire and life safety systems for new and existing buildings in the past 12 months.

Access the full 2014 Fire and Life Safety Study report to view additional key trends and findings.

 

 

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