An Investigation of the Potential Impacts and Challenges of the Introduction of Residential Sprinklers in Private Housing in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The research aimed to investigate the potential impacts and challenges of the introduction of residential sprinklers in private housing in Saudi Arabia. The research purposely looked into sprinklers’ benefits and challenges from stakeholders’ perspectives, and provided recommendations accordingly. The research’s methodology was a mixed-approach. It included a qualitative text analysis of international experiences. Then, the text analysis necessitated the needs for using qualitative methods in the form of interviews, and quantitative methods in the form of cost-benefit analysis and questionnaires. The results revealed more insights into the public’s general awareness of home fire sprinklers. Both the two interviews (a code and a fire official), and the 453 responses of the questionnaire have acknowledged that sprinklers are effective in reducing fire deaths, injuries and damages. Though there were also other benefits explored, the public has primarily seen more challenges into sprinklers than the benefits. The challenges were incompetent contractors, unlisted materials, weak awareness, costing and maintenance. The CBA has summarized an overview of sprinkler costing in a typical villa. The CBA has also resulted in sprinklers not being cost-effective. That means sprinklers’ costs outweighed their benefits. Thus, the public is not willing to make a safety-investment in them. The public have clearly developed myths about sprinklers, although they do not have them installed yet. The interviewees have also suspected that the public would have wrong perceptions. The main reason behind that is the lack of awareness. The interviewees have also raised issues of inconsistencies among codes’ requirements in the earlier version of the code. However, the research founded inconsistency is still existing in today’s model codes. Inconsistency was one of the reasons why sprinklers were not fitted in dwellings since 1997. Taking all those difficulties and challenges in considerations, recommendations are therefore given.