PlumbingandMechanical January 2011 : Page44

Life-saving knowledge throughout the United States have adopted, or are in the process of adopting, the code’s sprinkler mandate in varying degrees. “If you learn from the ground up, you are going to be more informed,” says Bauer, who estimates her company has installed sprinklers in 25 dwellings since last spring. “I would rather have growing pains on one of every 10 jobs I do than every job I do.” With more localities projected to adopt the IRC mandate, additional opportunities will be created for plumbing and mechanical contractors to branch out into the residential fire sprinkler installation business. Thus, there will be a greater need for training on not only the life-safety systems themselves, but on the rules, regulations and business practices that accompany them. “It’s a learning curve for everybody,” states Sprinkler Technology Design President David Hughes , whose Bozeman, Mont.-based company consults on fire sprinkler projects. “Once a new jurisdiction says yes to the code, everybody has to get up to speed on the steps it takes to do it and what needs to be accomplished for the enforcement and implementation of the code.” What’s out there: Fire sprinkler manufacturers and fire safety associations alike offer a variety of different training options for contractors ranging from classroom courses to Internet-based training to hands-on, jobsite instruction. FBC Building Solutions’ BlazeMaster brand has trained more than 20,000 installers in the past five years alone. Matthew Kuwatch , the company’s global business director, estimates 5,000 to 6,000 new installers are trained each year on BlazeMaster fire sprinkler products. “We have close to 100 installer trainers in the U.S.,” he notes. BlazeMaster also has an online training course, but Kuwatch recommends contractors attend live, interactive training sessions. Uponor not only offers classroom training, but sends a qualified trainer out to a contractor’s first fire sprinkler job and helps guide the tradesman and his crew through the installation process. “We’ll go to the jobsite with the plumber crews and spend a day or two there helping them install the product,” says Jayson Drake , Uponor’s senior product manager for fire safety and plumbing. “That training is putting the installer into a real-world situation.” The company recently went live with a fire sprinkler-specific Web site that installers, builders and code officials can use to find videos, case studies and industry links to training courses, technical support and local contacts for their specific states. Ted Stump , president of Apex Professional Mechanical Services in Lenhartsville, Pa., had an Uponor rep with him when he installed a fire sprinkler in a one-level residential home in Lower Macungie Township, Pa., in early 2010. “With the first one, you have an idea of what to do, but you’re with someone else that has gone through all of the installation steps and can give you pointers,” he says. “After that, I was pretty comfortable putting them in myself.” Viega offers several different training courses at its Nashua, N.H., facility. The training center features a computer lab for software design and hands-on installation space. “We’re trying to take a different approach and be more industry-focused as opposed to here’s how to use a Viega product,” notes Jason McKinnon , Viega’s manager of training and technical support. “Our goal is to make the training as valuable as possible for customers taking time out of their day.” For Jay Lamb , owner of Lamb Plumbing and Heating in Westbrook, Maine, taking the Viega training course swung the door wide open to another revenue stream for his business. “My contractors I work with didn’t want to go elsewhere for sprinklers. They asked me if I’d be interested in working with fire sprinkler systems and I said yes,” Lamb explains. “I took the course and I would say it’s very valuable. I’ve quoted about eight to 10 jobs since, and I’m working on my third sprinkler system now.” Jim Brunetti , who works in commercial operations at Tyco Fire & Building Products, says the company’s monthly general ™ Circle 238 44 Plumbing & Mechanical, January 2011

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