If you own a commercial building without a sprinkler system installed, you're putting your business in danger. There are approximately 112 commercial fires throughout the U.K. every day-and all of those owners thought they were fully protected without fire sprinklers. Insurance companies report almost half of their losses are caused by fire-and businesses in the U.K. lose about £2 billion a year due to it. A fire in your building could cost your business millions-and many companies never recover from a serious blaze.

Luckily, installing fire sprinklers doesn't have to be a burden on businesses. First of all, it's not as expensive as most people think-it's usually about the same in cost as installing new carpets. In fact, installing fire sprinklers could actually save you money-in insurance premiums, and in other ways.

In this exclusive report, we'll discuss which businesses are especially at risk-and why; the top causes of commercial fires; and how you may be able to benefit from installing fire sprinklers.

Even though every business is different, fires tend to start for the same reasons. As an owner, it's important to be aware of the reasons fires start-and do your best to prevent them.

Even with a smoke-free building, you can't watch what your employees do all the time-and it only takes one cigarette to start a fire. Many historic hotel fires were started by guests who fell asleep while smoking.

Many fires are started when flammable materials are stored too close to heat. In a Paris shopping centre, a fire started when clothes were left too close to a spotlight-luckily, the owners had installed commercial fire sprinklers, and the building was barely damaged.

Worn electrical cords and faulty wiring are also a major cause of commercial fires. A recent, fatal fire in a Scottish care home was determined to have been caused by faulty electrical wiring.

Fires are often caused by mistakes when workers handle hot machinery. A forge, furnace, stove, or oven can easily cause a fire if not used properly. Such heat sources often require careful maintenance-kitchen fires in restaurants are common, for example, because employees sometimes forget to clean grease traps.

Your business may have fire risks that aren't covered here. Commercial fire sprinklers can protect all types of businesses from fire-and are a worthwhile investment in your building's safety.

Think your buildings don't need a fire sprinkler system? Think again. Here are five of the most at-risk buildings and businesses.

An average of 2,000 schools catch fire annually in the U.K.-and about two-thirds of those are deliberate. Children should feel safe at school, but for those who've lost a school to fire, that feeling of safety is often lost. The worst part is that a single sprinkler head can control most arson fires-so losing a school to fire is a preventable tragedy.

Two-thirds of all fire deaths happen at home. As a landlord or developer, tenants and buyers count on you for a safe place to live-more difficult to provide without a fire sprinkler system.

There are plenty of opportunities for flare-ups in kitchens. Without a fire sprinkler system, your restaurant is at risk from gas leaks, flammable items near burning stove rings, dirty grill ducts, full grease traps, faulty electrical equipment and frayed cords.

A hotel has the fire risk of a restaurant and a residence combined. Without a fire sprinkler system, your guests aren't as safe as they should be.

People who live in HMO's are usually elderly or disabled-and many can't move quickly in case of fire. Those with mental disabilities may not understand the need to leave-and often resist rescue attempts. Their vulnerability has led fire chiefs in several countries to call for mandatory fire sprinkler system installation in HMO's.

As a builder, you can choose whether to install residential fire sprinklers. If you do, your decision may save lives. But depending on your local laws, there may be other benefits as well. Here are seven possible benefits of installing fire sprinklers:

Which often means more units.

With residential fire sprinklers, your streets may not need to be wide enough to allow access to fire trucks.

These turnarounds create cul-de-sacs and make more room for units. With fire sprinklers, you could be allowed to use them more often.

Fire sprinklers often give builders more flexibility in street planning. You may be allowed steeper streets or sharper turns.

And more street parking-a big draw for buyers.

With residential fire sprinklers installed, you may not need to ensure fire hoses reach your buildings. They can be farther from the road, adding garden space and value.

Residential fire sprinklers use about a hundredth of the water firefighters use to extinguish fires. With fire sprinklers, you may not have to make all that water available in case of fire.

Local laws vary, of course-so check the regulations in your area to know for sure what benefits are available to you. In many cases, fire sprinklers benefit everyone-by adding to your development's value and giving your buyers better fire protection.

Many builders and commercial property owners hesitate to install fire sprinklers because of the cost. But they can actually save you money. Here's how:

This is the most obvious one, but with good cause: fire can cost you millions of pounds of damage. The statistics show that commercial fire sprinklers can cut your damage costs by about 90% on average. One fire, and your sprinklers will pay for themselves.

Many people believe commercial fire sprinklers cause water damage to property. Actually, fire-related property damage is often ten times worse without them.

If you install commercial fire sprinklers in your buildings, your insurance may offer a discount-often from 10% to 65%, depending on the type of building.

As a developer, residential fire sprinklers don't just save you money-they sometimes generate profit. With residential fire sprinklers installed, you may not need to provide as much access to fire trucks-meaning more units, bigger lots, fewer hydrants, and units set back from the streets. This can mean more, higher-value units. In addition, buyers often see the value of added fire protection-and may be willing to pay more for it.

You may need to provide less water to your units with residential fire sprinklers installed, because they use so much less water than firefighters need to extinguish a fire. This can reduce the need to expand a water supply that's already there-saving you serious money.

Commercial fire sprinklers save business owners millions of dollars in damage every day. Commercial fires can be tragic, resulting in lives lost and livelihoods ruined. But they don't have to be-commercial fire sprinklers can control fires in the most combustible areas. Following are stories of businesses that survived serious fires with only minor damage-thanks to commercials fire sprinklers.

• A fire broke out in a U.S. automotive parts warehouse when some cardboard boxes stored near a propane heater burst into flame. The fire activated the warehouse's commercial fire sprinklers. Firefighters arrived within eight minutes. They found plenty of smoke-but only one small fire, which they quickly extinguished.



• A hot spotlight ignited some nearby clothing at a Paris shopping centre. This fire could have resulted in hundreds of lives lost-a similar fire in a Chinese shopping centre resulted in 300 deaths. Luckily, the Paris centre's owners had installed commercial fire sprinklers-which controlled the fire immediately. The shopping centre was running again after only an hour.



• A dryer malfunctioned in a restaurant late in the evening, heating the clothes inside until they burst into flame. Arriving firefighters were prevented from entering the building for some time, because the owners had changed the locks. When they finally entered the building, they found plenty of smoke-but the only fire was inside the dryer where the commercial fire sprinklers couldn't reach.

Fire sprinklers are effective because they're the only means of actively preventing fire. Other precautions, such as smoke alarms and fire extinguishers, are passive protection-the onus is on the people in the building to get out alive. Fire sprinklers protect your building, your workers, and your business from tragedy-and many commercial owners decide that kind of protection is more than worth the price.