Fire Load

What Does Fire Load Mean?

A building’s fire load refers to the items within it that could fuel a fire. It is calculated based on the amount of combustible material per unit of floor area. Fire insurance premiums are partly determined by the fire load of the insured building, as a higher fire load indicates a greater risk of fire damage. The same logic applies to homes: construction materials and the contents inside affect the premium, and they also affect how homeowners insurance covers fire damage after a loss.

Insuranceopedia Explains Fire Load

Fire loading depends on the materials present in a building. For example, if a room is empty and constructed entirely of cement from floor to ceiling, it can be considered to have a fire loading of zero. Two similar houses can still have very different fire loads depending on what’s inside, which is part of why comparing rates across the best homeowners insurance companies often produces noticeably different prices for the same property.

Achieving zero fire loading is nearly impossible for industrial or commercial properties. Wood (used in furniture or finishes) and electrical equipment (such as computers and gadgets) are common in