National Fire Protection Association

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is a United States-based international nonprofit organisation devoted to reducing death, injury, property damage and economic loss from fire, electrical and related hazards. It traces its origin to a Committee on Automatic Sprinkler Protection formed in Massachusetts in 1895 by fire insurance interests and a pipe manufacturer, whose 1896 report on a uniform sprinkler standard led to the NFPAs founding that same year; that early work became NFPA 13, the Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems, still the most widely used fire sprinkler standard. Headquartered in Quincy, Massachusetts, the NFPA today has roughly 50,000 members and 10,000 volunteers who develop codes and standards through some 250 technical committees, including many governing fire and life safety in buildings.