Detailed research supports calls for mandatory sprinkler systems in schools

The report, entitled What is the Cost of Fires in Schools?, finds that six-to-seven school fires occur every week, damaging classrooms, displacing pupils and disrupting communities. Over a 30‑year period, the likelihood of a secondary school experiencing a fire reaches the 70% mark.

Analysis shows the average cost of a school fire is circa £282,200, with total annual losses reaching a figure of £126 million. These numbers exclude the wider human and social impacts, including trauma, lost coursework and the disruption faced by vulnerable pupils.

Government data cited in the report shows that each lost day of education reduces a child’s future lifetime earnings by approximately £750. The research concludes that, in secondary schools, a single day of closure is enough to justify the cost of installing sprinklers.

The evidence presented on sprinkler performance is equally clear. It emerges that upwards of 97% of school fires occur in buildings without sprinklers, while sprinkler systems that activate are 98% effective at extinguishing or otherwise controlling fires.

BB 100: Design for Fire Safety in Schools

In recent years, the NFSN has observed a decline in the number of new-build school premises being constructed with fire sprinklers as developers move away from the expectation of the primary guidance (ie BB 100: Design for Fire Safety in Schools) and ‘sidestep’ the provision of sprinklers on the grounds of perceived cost-effectiveness.

The research finds that if the non-monetised benefits (eg reductions in stress, disruption to education and environmental effects) of installing sprinkler systems into new secondary school buildings are £460 per pupil per year, the costs of installing sprinkler systems are equal to the benefits. This figure is less than the lost future earnings of one pupil missing one day of school.

A Case Study of Ravensdale Infants School in Derbyshire is included within the report and illustrates the extent of the challenges faced by pupils, staff and parents alike in relation to the substantial effects of a devastating fire.

Preventing devastation

Terry McDermott QFSM MA, secretary of the NFSN, explained: “Every week, schools are impacted by fire and every closure harms children’s learning in addition to community stability. Sprinklers work. They’re cost‑effective and prevent devastation. Protecting school buildings and the pupils and teachers within them isn’t an option. It’s essential.”

On the back of the research report, the NFSN is urging central Government and education authorities to strengthen regulations and ensure that sprinklers are included as standard in all new and refurbished school buildings.

*Further information is available online at www.nfsn.uk

**Organisations who contributed to the research document include the British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association, the National Fire Chiefs Council, the European Fire Sprinkler Network, the Business Sprinkler Alliance and the International Fire Suppression Alliance