Fire and life safety: Six trends that matter to engineers

Consulting-Specifying Engineer sees the following as the six most important high-level findings impacting the fire and life safety industry today.

By Consulting-Specifying Engineer November 19, 2014
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. Our 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 six most important high-level findings impacting the fire and life safety industry today:
1. Systems 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. 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.
5. Building structures: More than 55% of fire and life safety engineers specify product selections for office buildings, industrial facilities, and government buildings.
6. 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.
View the full 2014 Fire and Life Safety study at www.csemag.com/2014FireLifeSafety.