I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1131 
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 
MARCH 3, 2005 
Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. BASS, Mr. CANTOR, Mr. CLAY, 
Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania, Mr. FITZPATRICK of 
Pennsylvania, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. HALL, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. HOLDEN, 
Mr. HYDE, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. 
MCINTYRE, Mr. OWENS, Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, Mr. REHBERG, Mr. ROGERS 
of Michigan, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. UPTON, Mr. WILSON of 
South Carolina, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. CARNAHAN, Mr. EVANS, Mr. 
GILCHREST, Mr. GORDON, Mr. HOLT, Mr. INSLEE, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of 
Texas, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. 
RUSH, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. WEXLER, and Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island) 
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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fire Sprinkler Incen-
tive Act of 2005’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds that— 
(1) since the publication of the original study 
and comprehensive list of recommendations in Amer-
ica Burning, written in 1974, requested advances in 
fire prevention through the installation of automatic 
sprinkler systems in existing buildings have yet to be 
fully implemented; 
(2) fire departments responded to approxi-
mately 1,700,000 fires in 2003; 
(3) there were 3,925 civilian deaths and 18,125 
civilian injuries resulting from fire in the United 
States in 2003; 
(4) 111 firefighters were killed in 2003; 
(5) fire caused $12,300,000,000 in direct prop-
erty damage in 2003, and sprinklers are responsible 
for a 70 percent reduction in property damage from 
fires in public assembly, educational, residential, 
commercial, industrial and manufacturing buildings; 
(6) fire departments respond to a fire every 20 
seconds, a fire breaks out in a structure every 61 
seconds and in a residential structure every 79 sec-
onds in the United States; 
(7) the Station Nightclub in West Warwick, 
Rhode Island, did not contain an automated sprin-
kler system and burned down, killing 100 people on 
February 20, 2003; 
(8) due to an automated sprinkler system, not 
a single person was injured from a fire beginning in 
the Fine Line Music Cafe´ in Minneapolis after the 
use of pyrotechnics on February 17, 2003; 
(9) the National Fire Protection Association 
has no record of a fire killing more than 2 people 
in a completely sprinklered public assembly, edu-
cational, institutional or residential building where 
the system was properly installed and fully oper-
ational; 
(10) sprinkler systems dramatically improve the 
chances of survival of those who cannot save them-
selves, specifically older adults, young children and 
people with disabilities; 
(11) the financial cost of upgrading fire counter 
measures in buildings built prior to fire safety codes 
is prohibitive for most property owners; 
(12) many State and local governments lack 
any requirements for new structures to contain auto-
matic sprinkler systems; 
(13) under the present straight-line method of 
depreciation, there is a disincentive for building safe-
ty improvements due to an extremely low rate of re-
turn on investment; and 
(14) the Nation is in need of incentives for the 
voluntary installation and retrofitting of buildings 
with automated sprinkler systems to save the lives of 
countless individuals and responding firefighters as 
well as drastically reduce the costs from property 
damage. 
SEC. 3. CLASSIFICATION OF AUTOMATIC FIRE SPRINKLER 
SYSTEMS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (B) of section 
168(e)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating 
to 5-year property) is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end of clause (V), by striking the period at the end of 
clause (vi) and inserting ‘‘, and ’’, and by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘(vii) any automatic fire sprinkler sys-
tem placed in service after April 11, 2003, 
in a building structure which was placed in 
service before such date.’’. 
(b) ALTERNATIVE SYSEM.—The table contained in 
section 168(g)(3)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 is amended by inserting after the third item the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(B)(vii) ....................................................................................................
7’’.