So, I have the crazy idea to give my grandparents what could be the ultimate Christmas present — having their house (they own it outright) retrofit with fire sprinklers. It's a single-story ranch with a one-car attached garage and full basement of about 1100ft^2 finished area, fed by municipal water — so on the face of it, a retrofit appears feasible. However, the house was built in 1947 — so there are no blueprints for it. What information, other than a reverse-engineered floorplan of the rooms of course, would the sprinkler contractor need for a quote on the retrofit?
What information about a house is required to get a quote for a fire sprinkler retrofit
fire-sprinklerplanningretrofit
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It depends on what jurisdiction has authority where you are doing the work. Some sort of electric code applies, but there's nothing unusual involved. There's a requirement for the fan to be securely anchored to the structure. That could be electrical, mechanical, or building codes. They are unlikely to be very specific, "securely anchored" will be roughly all the detail you'll see.
The main issue is the sprinkler head. It seems every jurisdiction has their own requirements, though at least in the USA, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) publishes a model code from which most jurisdictions either adopt by reference or base their own code upon it.
The main provision here will be nothing can be installed to obstruct the dispersal pattern of the spray head, which normally means the head needs to be lower than the fan. However, one could argue if the fan were pendant mounted by a narrow tube, one could actually get a better dispersal with the head at ceiling height because the head is higher and the tube provides minimal obstruction. This argument may or may not be viable, depending on exactly where the two components are located relative to each other.
Since this is a judgement call, only the authority having jurisdiction can make such a ruling.
The correct term is an Electrical Plan. I used Smart Draw when I remodeled my home. It's a great tool and there are several templates you can choose from to begin editing. Its pretty cheap to use.
Best Answer
Floorplan is not enough. They need to visit and take extensive measurements to engineer the system. If you want "bells and whistles" (there's lots of options) you need to decide on those too.
They will need to investigate the location, size, and routing of the service main as well. They should be able to determine minimum requirements for your locale by contacting the AHJ. NFPA has specific requirements too, but they only matter if adopted by your building code. This could be a very expensive gift. Significantly cheaper to get a high-end alarm system.