Know anyone planning to build a new house? Encourage them to put in a home sprinkler system.

For about the same cost as the carpet, homeowners can significantly reduce the risk of fire and help keep their family and possessions safe.

The New Zealand Fire Service actively promotes the use of home sprinklers and it's becoming more common for people building new homes to install a home sprinkler system. But it's a trickle of change rather than the flood that the Fire Service would like to see.

One of the barriers has been the difficulty plumbers have had in getting to grips with the 2002 voluntary Standard NZS 4517:2002 Home sprinkler systems covering home sprinklers. The Standard uses a different system for measuring pipes than plumbers are used to and this led to confusion over pipe sizes. As a result of these and other interpretation issues on how to apply the Standard, NZS 4517 has now been revised. The changes are expected to take effect in mid-2010.

'There have been developments in the technology since the Standard was first introduced, which make home sprinklers more cost effective,' says Brian Davey, National Manager Operational Standards, New Zealand Fire Service. 'Reviewing the Standard has given us the opportunity to reflect that and to make the requirements more clear and simple.'

Home sprinklers buy people time to safely evacuate – they make the fire more survivable by reducing the amount of smoke and toxic gases.

They also reduce the amount of property damage.

For more information on home sprinklers visit 'Fire safety' section on the New Zealand Fire Service website.

Reproduced with permission from New Zealand Fire Service 'Fire & Rescue magazine', Issue 55, December/January 2010.

Note: NZS 4517:2002 is being revised and is expected to be published in mid-2010.