Fayetteville’s ISO Public Protection Classification Rating Jumps from a Class 4 to a Class 2 The Fayetteville Fire Department announced today that the Insurance Services Office (ISO) has given the City of Fayetteville a much improved Public Protection Classification (PPC) rating. Due to the recent analysis of the structural fire suppression delivery system, Fayetteville has jumped from a Class 4 ISO rating to a Class 2 rating. This rating can affect the cost of homeowners’ insurance, with a lower rating often meaning lower premiums. “ISOs PPC program evaluates communities according to a uniform set of criteria, incorporating nationally recognized standards developed by the National Fire Protection Association and the American Water Works Association. A communitys PPC depends on: · Needed Fire Flows, which are representative building locations used to determine the theoretical amount of water necessary for fire suppression purposes. · Emergency Communications, including emergency reporting, telecommunicators, and dispatching systems. · Fire Department, including equipment, staffing, training, geographic distribution of fire companies, operational considerations, and community risk reduction. · Water Supply, including inspection and flow testing of hydrants, alternative water supply operations, and a careful evaluation of the amount of available water compared with the amount needed to suppress fires up to 3,500 gpm. (PPC Summary Report, January 2014)” The ISO is a leading source of information about insurance risk that gauges the fire protection capability of local fire departments to respond to structure fires. The ISO collects information on a community’s public fire protection and analyzes the data using its Fire Suppression Rating Schedule. It then assigns a rating from 1 to 10, with Class 1 representing the best public protection and Class 10 indicating no recognized protection. Besides the potential effect on insurance premiums, PPC data are useful in strategic planning, budgeting and justifying fire protection improvements. The Fayetteville Fire Department received its last ISO rating in the late 1990s. To improve the ISO rating, the Department worked with other departments, including Telecommunications to upgrade its dispatch system and Utilities to make water supply improvements. The City of Fayetteville has made many infrastructure improvements, such as the addition of 3 fire stations; increasing the number of fire hydrants and instituting a hydrant inspection program; replacing and adding water mains; and installing a new water tower. The Fire Department added the Fire Marshal’s Office which includes an education specialist and 3 fire marshals, who also educate, conduct inspections, enforce code, and investigate arson. The City of Fayetteville’s Public Protection Classification Class 2 ISO rating becomes effective on June 1, 2014. ISO is the leading supplier of data and analytics for the property/casualty insurance industry. Most insurers use PPC classifications for underwriting and calculating premiums for residential, commercial, and industrial properties. The improved rating recognizes the City’s effort to provide exceptional fire safety services and is hopeful that the Class 2 ISO rating will lower insurance premiums for its residents and businesses. For further information, please feel free to contact The Fayetteville Fire Department at 479-575-8365.
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 13:11:05 +0000