II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 582 

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

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

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2007 

Mr. SMITH (for himself, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, Mr. REED, and Mr. ALEXANDER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

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 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds that— 

8 (1) the publication of the original study and 

9 comprehensive list of recommendations in America 


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1 Burning, written in 1974, requesting advances in 

2 fire prevention through the installation of automatic 

3 sprinkler systems in existing buildings have yet to be 

4 fully implemented; 

5 (2) fire departments responded to approxi6 mately 1,600,000 fires in 2005; 

7 (3) there were 3,675 non-terrorist related 

8 deaths in the United States and almost 17,925 civil9 ian injuries resulting from fire in 2005; 

10 (4) 87 firefighters were killed in 2005; 

11 (5) fire caused $10,672,000,000 in direct prop12 erty damage in 2005, and sprinklers are responsible 

13 for a 70 percent reduction in property damage from 

14 fires in public assembly, educational, residential, 

15 commercial, industrial and manufacturing buildings; 

16 (6) fire departments respond to a fire every 20 

17 seconds, a fire breaks out in a structure every 61 

18 seconds and in a residential structure every 79 sec19 onds in the United States; 

20 (7) the Station Nightclub in West Warwick, 

21 Rhode Island, did not contain an automated sprin22 kler system and burned down, killing 99 people on 

23 February 20, 2003; 

24 (8) due to an automated sprinkler system, not 

25 a single person was injured from a fire beginning in 


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1 the Fine Line Music Cafe ́ in Minneapolis after the 

2 use of pyrotechnics on February 17, 2003; 

3 (9) the National Fire Protection Association 

4 has no record of a fire killing more than 2 people 

5 in a completely sprinklered public assembly, edu6 cational, institutional or residential building where 

7 the system was properly installed and fully oper8 ational; 

9 (10) sprinkler systems dramatically improve the 

10 chances of survival of those who cannot save them11 selves, specifically older adults, young children and 

12 people with disabilities; 

13 (11) the financial cost of upgrading fire counter 

14 measures in buildings built prior to fire safety codes 

15 is prohibitive for most property owners; 

16 (12) many State and local governments lack 

17 any requirements for older structures to contain 

18 automatic sprinkler systems; 

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

20 depreciation, there is a disincentive for building safe21 ty improvements due to an extremely low rate of re22 turn on investment; and 

23 (14) the Nation is in need of incentives for the 

24 voluntary installation and retrofitting of buildings 

25 with automated sprinkler systems to save the lives of 


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1 countless individuals and responding firefighters as 

2 well as drastically reduce the costs from property 

3 damage. 

4 SEC. 3. CLASSIFICATION OF AUTOMATIC FIRE SPRINKLER 

5 SYSTEMS. 

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

7 168(e)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating 

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

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

10 clause (vi) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and by inserting after 

11 clause (vi) the following: 

12 ‘‘(vii) any automatic fire sprinkler sys13 tem placed in service after the date of the 

14 enactment of this clause in a building 

15 structure which was placed in service be16 fore such date of enactment.’’. 

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

18 section 168(g)(3)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

19 1986 (relating to special rule for certain property assigned 

20 to classes) is amended by inserting after the item relating 

21 to subparagraph (B)(iii) the following: 

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

22 (c) DEFINITION OF AUTOMATIC FIRE SPRINKLER

23 SYSTEM.—Subsection (i) of section 168 of the Internal 

24 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end 

25 the following: 


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1 ‘‘(18) AUTOMATED FIRE SPRINKLER SYSTEM.— 

2 The term ‘automated fire sprinkler system’ means 

3 those sprinkler systems classified under one or more 

4 of the following publications of the National Fire 

5 Protection Association— 

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

7 Systems, 

8 ‘‘(B) NFPA 13 D, Installation of Sprin9 kler Systems in One and Two Family Dwellings 

10 and Manufactured Homes, and 

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

12 Systems in Residential Occupancies up to and 

13 Including Four Stories in Height.’’. 

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

15 this section shall apply to property placed in service after 

16 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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