ACCORDING TO A recent Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition (HFSC) survey of builders and others in the home construction industry, less than one-fifth of respondents have built a home with automatic fire sprinklers, but nearly 90 percent said they would find an educational program on home fire sprinklers helpful. NFPA is a founding member of HFSC.

The study, conducted by Reed Research Group, indicates that more than two-thirds of respondents who had installed a sprinkler system did so to comply with a local ordinance. Twenty-three percent said they installed sprinklers in response to customer requests.

Builders who had installed sprinklers said the systems are placed in nearly one-third of the homes they build. Nationally, about 2 percent of new homes today have sprinklers installed.

The survey is part of the HFSC's Built for Life program, which targets homebuilders and designers in an effort to dispel common myths about residential sprinkler systems and raise awareness of their many values. Although nearly three-quarters of respondents are aware that residential sprinkler systems run off standard water lines, more than one-third did not realize that sprinklers are individually activated, confirming a serious and potentially damaging gap in sprinkler knowledge.Reducing misinformation among homebuilders is a priority for HFSC. In January, HFSC joined a group of sprinkler industry manufacturers in hosting an exhibit booth at the International Home Builders Show, which drew more than 90,000 building industry professionals. The booth contained a built-to-scale miniature house with a sprinkler system installed in compliance with NFPA 13D, Installation of Sprinkler Systems in One- and Two-Family Dwellings m and Manufactured Housing. The cut-away house allowed builders to get a behind-the-scenes look at how sprinklers are installed and work.