Featured Articles

Better Business Climate Expectations Help Drive Asset Prices Higher If someone were casting roles for a production of The Tortoise and the Hare, the U.S. economy would be a favorite to play the tortoise. While this analogy may be a bit harsh, economic growth remains mostly slow, but persistent. It …

Increase of 5 Percent in 2018 Predicted FMI Corporation has released its latest construction forecast, the FMI Outlook, in a new streamlined format, designed to improve user experience and access to important data. FMI’s Q3 2017 forecast predicts an increase of 4 percent for total construction put in place for …

Program Promotes Student Success The American Fire Sprinkler Association (AFSA) is pleased to have graduated its first Inspection, Testing and Maintenance (ITM) Inspector Development Program cycle and the results are in! Students and supervisors have given the program high marks, while boasting well above national first-time passage rates on NICET …

Concerns for Fire Sprinkler Installers On March 25, 2016, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published its final rule on respirable crystalline silica exposures in construction. Most of the standard came into effect on June 23, 2017, with a few technical details going into effect on June 23, 2018. …

Members Celebrate Milestone Anniversaries The American Fire Sprinkler Association (AFSA) is honored to recognize those members celebrating milestone membership anniversaries with the association. These member companies have belonged to AFSA for 15 or more years of continuous membership. Recognition in Sprinkler Age will be done in five-year increments, starting at …

Fire Sprinkler Industry Looks Back and Ahead As the fire sprinkler industry settles into 2018, it’s an opportunity to look back on business in 2017 and look ahead to the coming year’s potential. While forecasters predicted 2017 to be a year of slow growth with a bigger jump in 2018, it …

Greetings, As we enter into another new year, it is not hard to just take a moment to reflect back on 2017. I think we can all look back at ‘17 and agree it was a pretty good year. The economy around the country was all-in-all robust. Most of us …

If you’ve watched TV anytime in the past year, it’s almost impossible to not have heard of the wildly popular show “This is Us.” If you haven’t heard of it, it’s an hour-long show that airs on NBC which chronicles the life of one family, the Pearsons, across the decades …

Fire Sprinkler Industry Poised to Benefit from Comprehensive Tax Reform The American Fire Sprinkler Association (AFSA) applauds passage of inclusion of fire sprinkler provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1), the nation’s most comprehensive reform of the U.S. tax code in more than 30 years. AFSA members …

Battleship. An American naval vessel of sufficient size which is heavily armored and equipped with the most powerful armament, used to take part in operations of significance. The term “Battleship,” and its 4 in.-thick reinforced iron sides, was used on numerous occasions throughout the two-year term of Michael (Mike) Meehan as the American Fire Sprinkler …