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FiRECAM <TM> Deployment Survey Results
Proulx, G.; Yung, D. T.; Bénichou, N.; Dutcher, C.; Saeed, H.
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FI RECAM <T M > De ploym e nt Sur ve y
Re sult s
Proulx, G.; Yung, D.; Bénichou, N.; Dutcher, C.;
Saeed, H.
IRC-IR-810
June 2000
FIRECAM™ DEPLOYMENT SURVEY RESULTS
by
Guylène Proulx, David Yung, Noureddine Bénichou,
Charles Dutcher and Hanaa Saeed
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ……………………………………………………………
3
1.0
BACKGROUND ……………………………………………………………
4
2.0
SURVEY OBJECTIVES ……………………………………………………
4
3.0
POPULATION SURVEYED ………………………………………………...
4
4.0
RESULTS FOR THE WHOLE SAMPLE ……………………………………
6
4.1
RESULTS OF INTERESTED RESPONDENTS ……………………..
7
4.2
FUTURE COLLABORATION ………………………………………
9
RECOMMENDATION ………………………………………………………
9
5.0
APPENDIX A ………………………………………………………………………
11
2
FIRECAM™ DEPLOYMENT SURVEY RESULTS
by
Guylène Proulx, David Yung, Noureddine Bénichou,
Charles Dutcher and Hanaa Saeed
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The FiRECAM team, of the Fire Risk Management Program at NRC, conducted a survey
to assess the level of interest of the fire safety community in obtaining a copy of the
FiRECAM™ software. In January 2000, a survey was sent to a sample of 700 Canadian
engineers, consultants, buildings officials, fire service personnel and fire risk managers.
Among the returned surveys, 80 respondents, or 74%, were interested in obtaining a copy of
the FiRECAM™ software through a license. Just over two-thirds of the respondents
interested in a copy of FiRECAM™, were prepared to pay an additional fee for technical
support and training. Most of the respondents who were interested in the software were
engineer/consultants or building officials, who indicated that they would use FiRECAM™ for
“design” and “regulation”. Close to half of all respondents expressed interest in future
collaboration with the FiRECAM team in the development of other advanced fire risk models.
3
1.0 BACKGROUND
FiRECAM™, which stands for Fire Risk Evaluation and Cost Assessment Model, is a userfriendly computer program that can be used to assess the level of fire safety that is provided
to the occupants of an apartment or office building by a particular fire safety design. In
addition, the model can assess the associated fire costs that include capital and
maintenance costs of the fire protection system and expected fire losses.
FiRECAM™ has been developed with a number of partners and clients who have financially
supported the development of the model including: Public Works and Government Services
Canada for renovating and retrofitting existing office buildings; National Defence Canada for
residential quarters; National Association of Forest Industries, Australia, for timber-frame
apartment buildings and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation for mandatory
sprinklers in residential buildings.
2.0 SURVEY OBJECTIVES
The FiRECAM team of the Fire Risk Management Program at NRC undertook to conduct a
survey before deciding on how to market the FiRECAM™ software. The main question the
team was concerned with was: what should be done with the completed version of
FiRECAM™? If there exists a genuine interest out there in using the tool, the team could
proceed with technology transfer activities. If not, the project should be terminated. No
matter what the outcome is, the results could help the Institute for Research in Construction
(IRC) of NRC in formulating a position on the future of FiRECAM™.
Although the team had received several requests for the software, it has been difficult to tally
actual interest without conducting a formal survey. This exercise also provides indications
regarding the willingness of outside parties to pay to obtain a licensed copy of FiRECAM™,
and their interest in receiving training and technical support. In the affirmative, training and
support would require the team members to commit effort, time and funding to these
activities.
The team also wished to know the type of business the people interested in the software are
involved in, and the kind of projects they would use the tool on. Since the team is constantly
looking for partners in the development of the model, it is also important to identify any
outside parties who are interested in collaborating with NRC in the development of other
advanced fire risk assessment models.
3.0 POPULATION SURVEYED
IRC Client Services provided addresses, from its large databank, of Construction/Engineer
Consultants located throughout Canada. The survey was sent to a sample of 700 engineers,
consultants, building officials, fire service personnel and fire risk managers, which formed the
population surveyed. Although it was known at the time that some of the people surveyed
might not be interested in fire modeling-tools, it was not possible to discriminate them more
specifically.
A cover letter, the survey and a two-face colour information sheet on FiRECAM™ were sent
out during the first week of January 2000. Quebec residents received a cover letter and a
4
survey in French. These documents are enclosed in Appendix A. Respondents were asked
to return their completed survey by fax by the end of January 2000.
By mid-February 2000, a total of 107 completed surveys had been returned by fax, which is a
return rate of 15%. Surveys were received from respondents of all Canadian provinces
except PEI.
RESPONSES BY PROVINCE
Nova
Scotia Newfoundland
Saskatchewan 4% 2%
3%
Manitoba
7%
Ontario
37%
Quebec
8%
New
Brunswick
10%
Alberta
9%
British
Columbia
20%
5
4.0 RESULTS FOR THE WHOLE SAMPLE
Of the 107 responses to the FiRECAM™ survey, 80 of the respondents or 74%, were
interested in obtaining a copy of FiRECAM™ through a license. Although 27 people were not
interested in receiving a copy of the software at that time, five were interested in obtaining a
copy in the future. Among the respondents not interested in FiRECAM™ were people in the
fields of property management, industrial engineering, construction services, communication,
forestry and pre-cast concrete.
INTEREST OF RESPONDENTS
Not Interested
21%
In the Future
5%
Interested
74%
6
4.1 Results of Interested Respondents
Among the 80 respondents interested in obtaining a copy of FiRECAM™, 49 or 61%,
responded that they were prepared to pay a nominal fee to obtain the software but didn’t
require support or training. Another 31, or 39%, responded that they were interested in a
licensed copy of FiRECAM™ and were prepared to pay an extra fee for technical support and
training. These numbers include 5 respondents who checked off both options. Another 6
respondents didn't check either fee option, although they mentioned being interested in
obtaining a copy of FiRECAM™.
WILLINGNESS TO PAY
39%
Nominal Fee
without Support &
Training
Extra Fee with
Support & Training
61%
Some suggested group training sessions as opposed to in-office training sessions. Also,
“pay-as-you-go” support was suggested to limit the cost to the needs of each user. Many
respondents wanted to know how “user-friendly“ the software was, and if a detailed usermanual was available before making a decision about training. Although most chose the
nominal fee option, many felt they needed to know the actual price difference between the
options before they could make a final decision. While one person suggested a price
between $200 and $300, another suggested $2000 for the FiRECAM™ software.
When asked what they planned to use FiRECAM™ for, 34 respondents out of 80 gave more
than one answer, and 12 gave no response to that question. In total, 47 respondents or
40%, answered they would use it to design and 44 respondents or 36%, said they would use
it in regulation. Many also intended to use the software to assess the safety of present
buildings as well as buildings they were in the process of designing. A group of 15
respondents, 12%, mentioned they would use FiRECAM™ for research, often in conjunction
with regulation. A few respondents intended to use the software to teach college students or
to raise awareness about building safety.
7
USES FOR FiRECAM™
Regulation
36%
Research
12%
Risk
Assessment
5%
Education 3%
Renovation 3%
Other 1%
Design
40%
When asked in what business they were, 60 respondents chose one option and 20 chose 2
options or more, so the same respondent can be in many business categories. Half the
respondents, 40 people, were either engineers or consultants in different trades. This
formed a general category of Engineering/Consultants representing 43% of the respondents,
including professionals in fire safety, structural engineering, one HVAC and one roofing
engineer. In this category also were a few mechanical, electrical and industrial consultants.
The Building Official category grouped 24 respondents, or 25%, who would use FiRECAM™
in conjunction with regulation. The 10 respondents, 11%, in the Building Design category
were interested in using FiRECAM™ to assess how safe current buildings were, and to look
at alternative designs for new buildings. The Fire Service category, 7 respondents,
representing 7%, were planning to use FiRECAM™ for regulation. The Education category, 4
respondents representing 4%, consisted mainly of college and university professors who
wanted to use FiRECAM™ as a teaching tool in their classes.
8
RESPONDENTS' FIELD OF ACTIVITY
Building
Official
25%
Manufacturer
2% Research
4%
Fire Service
7%
Insurance
2%
Education
4%
Other
2%
Building
Design
11%
Engineer/
Consultant
43%
4.2 Future Collaboration
Respondents to the survey were asked if they would be interested in participating in future
development of more advanced fire risk models. Of all 107 respondents to the survey, 48 of
them, 45%, were interested in collaborating with the FiRECAM team in future development of
more advanced models. Some of the respondents interested in future collaboration were not
interested in getting a copy of FiRECAM™ at the moment since the software does not
consider their fields of interest, such as health care facilities or detention and correctional
occupancies.
5.0 RECOMMENDATION
The FiRECAM team is fully satisfied with the responses and comments obtained through the
survey. Clearly, there is a marked interest, from the fire safety community throughout
Canada, to obtain a copy of FiRECAM™.
Although just over one third of the sample would be prepared to pay an extra fee to receive
training and support, at the moment, it is felt by the team, that it is the best avenue to pursue
to ensure that users of the software will understand the input required and will be able to
properly interpret the output. To carry on deployment activities, a two-day FiRECAM™
training workshop will be organised at NRC in the fall of 2000. All the respondents who
replied that they would be interested in a copy of FiRECAM™, as well as other people who
have contacted the team members, will be invited to this workshop. The two-day training
workshop will provide participants with the basic concepts of FiRECAM™ and will provide
them with hands-on training on how to use the software. At the end of the workshop, a
FiRECAM™ CD and user's manual will be distributed to each attendee with a limited licence
9
for evaluation purposes only and for a fixed period of 6 months. At the end of that evaluation
period, participants are required to send their comments to the FiRECAM team. If deemed
valid and possible, these comments will be used to make improvements to the software. The
above steps will allow the FiRECAM team to complete its deployment activities before the
final step of the project can take place, which is to market and sell FiRECAM™ licences.
10
APPENDIX A
11
(NRC Letterhead)
Fire Risk Management Program
Phone:
(613) 993-2204
FAX: (613) 954-0483
2000-01-04
Dear colleague,
Our software tool FiRECAM™ is now ready for deployment ! After many years of
development and verification, our Fire Risk Evaluation and Cost Assessment Model
(FiRECAM™) for apartment and office buildings is now ready for wide-spread use. In
order for us to determine the best way to deploy FiRECAM™, we are undertaking a
survey of the potential users of this tool. A survey form is attached and we would
appreciate it very much if you could take a few minutes of your time to fill out the
survey form and return it to us by fax at (613)954-0483 before January 28, 2000. For
your information, a brief description of FiRECAM™ is attached.
There is no obligation to purchase the software by filling out this survey form. The
survey is one way for us to assess the level of interest in FiRECAM™. The
information you will provide to us will be kept confidential.
Thank you for taking your time to complete and return the survey form. If you have
questions about this survey, please contact us at (613) 993-2204.
Sincerely,
David Yung, Ph.D., P.Eng.
Group Leader
Residential and Commercial Building Fire Safety
E-mail: [email protected]
12
FiRECAM™ Deployment Survey
1. Would you be interested in obtaining a copy of FiRECAM™ through a license?
θ Yes
θ No
2. How much would you be willing to pay for a copy of FiRECAM™?
θ
θ
Nominal fee with no support and no training
Extra fee with technical support and training
Comments: _______________________________________________
3. What do you plan to use FiRECAM™ for?
θ
θ
Design
θ
Regulation
Others:_______________________
4. What business are you in?
θ
θ
θ
Fire consultant
θ
Building official
Manufacturer
θ
Research
Fire research
Fire service
θ
Insurance Others:_______________________
5. Would you be interested in collaborating in the development of more advanced fire
risk assessment models?
θ Yes
θ No
6. Additional comments:__________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
Contact Information
Name: __________________________________ Position_______________________
Address:_______________________________________________________________
Phone: ____________________________ Fax: _______________________________
e-mail: ________________________________________________________________
Send completed Survey by fax at (613) 954-0483
before January 28, 2000
13
(Papier a lettre du CNRC)
Programme de gestion des risques incendie
Téléphone:
(613) 993-2204
FAX: (613) 954-0483
2000-01-04
Cher collègue,
Notre logiciel FiRECAM™ est maintenant prêt à être utilisé ! Après plusieurs
années de développement et de vérification, notre modèle d'évaluation des coûtsrisques incendie (FiRECAM™) pour les édifices à bureaux et à appartements est
maintenant prêt pour une utilisation étendue. Afin de déterminer l'intérêt porté à
FiRECAM™, nous conduisons un sondage pour connaître les utilisateurs
potentiels de cet outil informatique. Nous vous serions très obligé de bien vouloir
remplir le questionnaire ci-joint et de nous le retourner par télécopieur au (613)
954-0483 avant le 28 janvier, 2000. Pour de plus ample information sur
FiRECAM™, une brève description en anglais est jointe. Le logiciel FiRECAM™
est actuellement seulement disponible en anglais, mais si une demande
importante est constatée, il est possible que le logiciel soit éventuellement traduit
en français.
En complétant ce questionnaire, il n'y a aucune obligation de votre part d'acheter
le logiciel. Ce questionnaire est seulement un moyen pour nous aider à mesurer
l'intérêt porté à FiRECAM™. Les informations recueillies par ce questionnaire
seront tenues confidentielles.
Merci de consacrer votre temps précieux à remplir et retrouver ce questionnaire.
Si vous avez des questions concernant ce questionnaire, contactez nous par
téléphone au (613) 993-2204.
Sincères salutations,
David Yung, Ph.D., Ing.
Chef d'équipe
Sécurité incendie bâtiments résidentiels et commerciaux
14
QUESTIONNAIRE SUR FIRECAM™
1. Seriez-vous intéressé à obtenir une copie du logiciel FiRECAM™ sous license?
θ Oui
θ Non
2. Combien seriez-vous prêt à payer pour une copie du logiciel FiRECAM™?
θ
θ
Un montant minimal, sans support technique ni programme de formation
Un montant plus substantiel avec support technique et un programme de
formation pour apprendre à utiliser le logiciel
Commentaires: ____________________________________________
3. Dans quel but prévoyez-vous utiliser FiRECAM™?
θ
θ
Design
θ
Réglementation
Autres:_______________________
4. Dans quel domaine être-vous?
θ
θ
θ
Consultant
Agent du bâtiment
Manufacturier
θ
θ
θ
Recherche
Recherche en incendie
Service d'incendie
Assurance
Autres:_______________________
5. Seriez-vous intéressé à collaborer dans le développement future de modèles d'évaluation
coûts-risques incendie?
θ Oui
θ Non
6. Commentaires additionnels:_____________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Information
Nom: __________________________________
Position_______________________
Adresse:_______________________________________________________________
Téléphone: __________________________
Fax: _________________________
Courriel: _______________________________________________________________
Envoyez le questionnaire complété par télécopieur au (613) 954-0483
15
avant le 28 janvier, 2000
16