I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1824

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to classify automatic fire 

sprinkler systems as 5-year property for purposes of depreciation. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 11, 2003

Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania (for himself and Mr. LANGEVIN) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to classify 

automatic fire sprinkler systems as 5-year property for 

purposes of depreciation.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fire Sprinkler Incen5 tive Act of 2003’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) since the publication of the original study 

9 and comprehensive list of recommendations in Amer10 ica Burning, written in 1974, requested advances in 
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1 fire prevention through the installation of automatic 

2 sprinkler systems in existing buildings have yet to be 

3 fully implemented; 

4 (2) fire departments responded to approxi5 mately 1.7 million fires in 2001; 

6 (3) there were 3,745 non-terrorist related 

7 deaths in the United States and almost 21,000 civil8 ian injuries resulting from fire in 2001; 

9 (4) 99 firefighters were killed in 2001, exclud10 ing the terrorist acts on September 11th; 

11 (5) fire caused $8.9 billion in direct property 

12 damage in 2001, and sprinklers are responsible for 

13 a 43 to 70 percent reduction in property damage 

14 from fires in public assembly, educational, residen15 tial, commercial, industrial and manufacturing build16 ings; 

17 (6) fire departments respond to a fire every 18 

18 seconds, a fire breaks out in a structure every 60 

19 seconds and in a residential structure every 80 sec20 onds in the United States; 

21 (7) the Station Nightclub in West Warwick, 

22 Rhode Island, did not contain an automated sprin23 kler system and burned down, killing 99 people on 

24 February 20, 2003; 
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1 (8) due to an automated sprinkler system, not 

2 a single person was injured from a fire beginning in 

3 the Fine Line Music Cafe ́ in Minneapolis after the 

4 use of pyrotechnics on February 17, 2003; 

5 (9) the National Fire Protection Association 

6 has no record of a fire killing more than two people 

7 in a completely sprinklered public assembly, edu8 cational, institutional or residential building where 

9 the system was properly installed and fully oper10 ational; 

11 (10) sprinkler systems dramatically improve the 

12 chances of survival of those who cannot save them13 selves, specifically older adults, young children and 

14 people with disabilities; 

15 (11) most property owners are incapable of up16 grading fire counter measures in buildings built 

17 prior to fire safety codes due to the financial cost of 

18 retrofitting; 

19 (12) many State and local governments lack 

20 any requirements for new structures to contain auto21 matic sprinkler systems; 

22 (13) under the present straight-line method of 

23 depreciation, there is a disincentive for building safe24 ty improvements due to an extremely low rate of re25 turn on investment; and 
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1 (14) the Nation is in need of incentives for the 

2 voluntary installation and retrofitting of buildings 

3 with automated sprinkler systems to save the lives of 

4 countless individuals and responding firefighters as 

5 well as drastically reduce the costs from property 

6 damage. 

7 SEC. 3. CLASSIFICATION OF AUTOMATIC FIRE SPRINKLER 

8 SYSTEMS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (B) of section 

10 168(e)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating 

11 to 5-year property) is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

12 end of clause (v), by striking the period at the end of 

13 clause (vi) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and by adding at the 

14 end the following: 

15 ‘‘(vii) any automatic fire sprinkler sys16 tem.’’. 

17 (b) ALTERNATIVE SYSTEM.—The table contained in 

18 section 168(g)(3)(B) of such Code is amended by inserting 

19 after the third item the following:

‘‘(B)(vii) .................................................................................................... 7’’.

20 (c) DEFINITION OF AUTOMATIC FIRE SPRINKLER

21 SYSTEM.—Subsection (i) of section 168 of such Code is 

22 amended by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(15) AUTOMATED FIRE SPRINKLER SYSTEM.—

24 The term ‘automated fire sprinkler system’ means 

25 those sprinkler systems classified under one or more 
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1 of the following publications of the National Fire 

2 Protection Association—

3 ‘‘(A) NFPA 13, Installation of Sprinkler 

4 Systems, 

5 ‘‘(B) NFPA 13 D, Installation of Sprin6 kler Systems in One and Two Family Dwellings 

7 and Manufactured Homes, and 

8 ‘‘(C) NFPA 13 R, Installation of Sprinkler 

9 Systems in Residential Occupancies up to and 

10 Including Four Stories in Height.’’. 

11 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

12 this section shall apply to property placed in service after 

13 the date of the enactment of this Act.

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