Benchmark Pumps Up Fire-Protection Design

For Jim Cooper, it’s all about pressure.

If there’s enough pressure to provide 750 gallons of water per minute to 2,000-SF of building space, then he’s a happy engineer. That’s enough water pressure to supply a fire hydrant and indoor sprinkler system during a fire.

If the pressure is too low, Cooper may have to install a pump or water storage tank so ceiling sprinklers will be able to spray enough water to extinguish a fire.

Cooper is the fire-protection engineer for Benchmark Group of Rogers. Last year, the architectural and engineering consulting firm officially established a fire-protection services division, which designs fire-sprinkler systems.

Benchmark is expanding that department this year. The company said it will be one of the largest in the United States. Cooper, who had been doing that design job by himself, is now the main engineer for a division that will include seven to 10 of Benchmark’s 155 employees.

Cooper earned a bachelor’s degree in fire-protection safety engineering from Oklahoma State University in Stillwater in 1996. OSU and the University of Maryland are the only colleges in the country that offer bachelor’s degrees in fire protection safety engineering.

Cooper said codes and regulations in many cities — but not in Northwest Arkansas — now require fire-protection engineering on the front end of building design, along with mechanical and electrical engineering. Cooper said regulations have become more stringent since he got into the business in 1999, but he didn’t know if that had any direct correlation to the terrorism of Sept. 11, 2001.

Benchmark Group was founded in 1978 by Paul C. Parks. It has grown from a one-man operation to one of the largest architectural and engineering firms in Arkansas. In 1982, Benchmark was the first firm in Arkansas to use computer-aided drafting.

Parks said Benchmark differs from most firms because, even though it’s based in Rogers, it does work nationwide.

Since its inception, Benchmark has worked on more than 8,000 projects from coast to coast. The company’s architects and engineers are licensed in 49 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. Most of the company’s fire-protection clients are retailers and restaurants.

Cooper wouldn’t estimate the cost for installing a sprinkler system. He said it varies too much based on building size, water supply and local regulations. He said there’s more piping in a building for the fire-sprinkler system than anything else.

The technology has been around for about a century. Early sprinkler systems consisted of perforated pipes and glass bulbs with holes in them, Cooper said.

Modern sprinklers have thermal elements that switch the sprinkler on if the temperature reaches a certain level, usually 150 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. If a building catches on fire, the sprinklers in the area of the fire are set to begin spraying water and put out the fire before it spreads to other parts of the structure.

After Benchmark does the design work, fire-protection contractors such as SimplexGrinnell, which has a Springdale office, and Perkins Fire Pro in Little Rock can be hired to do the actual construction. Those contractors, along with several others in Arkansas, are licensed by the state to do fire-protection work.