Fire Extinguisher & Cabinet (MRc4 & MRc5)

Elliot,
Products in CSI-2004 divisions 3-10 plus some site related sections apply to this credit. Fire extinguisher cabinets and fire extinguishers do belong to division 10. However, the LEED Reference Guide stipulates to "Include only materials permanently installed in the project". Fire extinguisher cabinets are obviously permanent and is no doubt applicable to this credit. Fire extinguishers, since they can be removed, may be perceived as not permanent. In my opinion, they should be considered as permanent because they are required by life safety code to be there at all times. Someone chime in if they have had fire extinguishers accepted by LEED reviewers in your projects.

Elliot—Francis is right that fire extinguishers and cabinets are in CSI Division 10, so you should include the cost of these items when figuring the “Total Materials Cost” for the MR credit calculations.

However, for most projects, the actual cost to purchase extinguishers and cabinets is infinitesimal compared to the rest of the building. Even if they had 100% post-consumer content reclaimed and manufactured next-door to the jobsite, they could only contribute a fraction of a percent of the “Total Materials Cost” to MRc4 & MRc5.

What’s more, the data that I have seen for these products tends to be sketchy. They often claim a percentage of recycled content for their steel, but these items contain more than just steel. They can rarely identify extraction points or percentages of regional components.

Since the potential for these items to contribute much to MRc4 & MRc5 is so low, I have stopped asking fire extinguisher & cabinet manufacturers to provide complete data. I just request a lump sum cost for extinguishers and accessories and focus my documentation efforts on the big-ticket items. That way too, I don’t have to fuss over whether fire extinguishers qualify as “permanent.”