Fire Sprinkler Installation

[Lisa M.]

Contemplating a renovation of a small multi unit building and a fire sprinkler system will likely be required. About how much should I budget for this until I get a professional to the property?

[Pat L.]

Been there done that.

Our town decided that all multi's required a fire safety audit & the Fire Sprinkler System we were required to instal eliminated the need for many expensive tedious upgrades to 'suppress' a raging fire. We did need to upgrade some windows for the required above ground level egress, but that was planned regardless.

I took a couple of courses so was allowed to design & install it myself. One of our friends is a Commercial Architect so that saved us a few thousand as he did all the calculations (per IRC-2018) & then he & the  Fire Chief had to sign off on the install. Then we had to tie into 24/7 monitoring + an annual inspection which we are now upgrading for a much better price than ADT/Protection One. 

Our existing city water psi was more than adequate & I was permitted to use 3/4 Pex throughout. Running lines through a 70+ yr old, 6800 sq ft building & trying not disturb the tenants too much was very time consuming but I covered every nook & cranny except for the allowed exclusion of bathrooms & closets ONLY. Because of the extent of the install, (6 units, the 2 basements & a number of ancillary rooms), the constant meetings called by the 'explain those calcs to me again & again' bldg inspector, it took 8 months. But NOW I could do one it in my sleep !!! 

My materials probably ran $2-$4k, (I also replaced a lot of old plumbing runs while at it), but a fellow investor was just quoted $20k for a basic small up/down duplex !!!