ISO is an independent statistical, rating and advisory organization that rates a community’s fire protection capability and assigns a Public Protection Classification (PPC). The PPC is used by the insurance industry in establishing commercial and residential fire insurance premium rates. ISO uses National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), and American Water Works Association (AWWA) Standards in its evaluations.



FIRE SUPPRESSION RAITING SCHEDULE (FSRS)

ISO collects information on community’s public fire protection and analyses the data using its Fire Suppression Rating Schedule (FSRS). ISO then assigns a PPC from 1 to 10. Class 1 represents exemplary public protection and Class 10 indicates less than minimum recognized protection. Lower insurance rates will not only help residents and businesses, it will help recruit new business into a community. Our current ISO rating is a level 3. 

The ISO Rating System is a complex evaluation. Points and percentages are assigned in 3 major categories each with many complex subcategories. The major categories are the following:

• Fire Department Capabilities – 50%
• ISO examines personnel, engines, equipment & training
• Water Supply – 40%
• ISO examines whether sufficient water is available for fire suppression beyond what may be used for maximum daily consumption
• Fire Alarm – 10%
• ISO evaluates the communications center  

 


TEXAS FIRE SAFETY CONTROL ADDENDUM

Texas has an exception to the FSRS that can add an additional 5 percentage points and improve a community’s PPC rating. Additional areas evaluated include the following:

Fire Prevention Code Enforcement

• Fire Investigations
• Public Fire Safety Education
• Construction Code Enforcement

ISO Evaluations are usually preformed every 10 years for communities with a population of over 25,000. Cities with a population under 25,000 are evaluated at the request of the Cities Manager or Fire Chief. Special evaluations may be performed to achieve an improved PPC and to lower insurance rates. The last evaluation Harker Heights received was in March of 2008.



CLASSIFICATION DETAILS

Date Surveyed:   March 17, 2008
Date Submitted:  March 3, 2009
Effective Date:    August 1, 2009       

Population: 25,351
Total Credit: 76.48
Class: 3
 

Class	Percentage
1.	90.00 or More
2.	80.00 to 89.99
3.	70.00 to 79.99
4.	60.00 to 69.99
5.	50.00 to 59.99
6.	40.00 to 49.99
7.	30.00 to 39.99
8.	20.00 to 29.99
9.	10.00 to 19.99
10.	0.00 to 9.99

 SUMMARY OF CREDIT

Feature	Assigned	Maximum Credit
Receiving and Handling Fire Alarms	9.15	10.00
Fire Department	30.54	50.00
Water Supply	35.41	40.00
Texas State Training	0.65	3.26
Texas Addendum Credit	5.96	6.50
*Divergence	(5.23)
Total Points Credit	76.48	106.50

 

*Divergence is a reduction in credit to reflect a difference in the relative credits for Fire Department and Water Supply.