An insurance advisory organization that provides standards for rating a building's fire risk based on its distance from hydrants and fire departments said it has revised its classification system.

The Wheaton, Ill.-based American Association of Insurance Services explained that in September it plans on expanding the number of classifications it provides under its “simplified” fire protection classifications from three to five.

Since the late 1970s, the AAIS method allowed insurers to place a risk in one of three fire protection classifications:

o Protected, which refers to buildings located within 1,000 feet of a fire hydrant and within five road miles of a responding fire department.

o Partially Protected, which refers to buildings located more than 1,000 feet from a fire hydrant but within five road miles of a responding fire department.

o Unprotected, which refers to buildings that are not classified as Protected or Partially Protected.

With the revision now being filed countrywide under the AAIS Commercial Properties Program, the “Protected” classification is being replaced with five separate tiers (Protected 1, Protected 2 and so on) that correspond to the distance of a risk from a responding fire department (but all still within five miles).

The Commercial Properties filings have a proposed effective date of Sept. 1. Revised fire protection classifications will be filed over coming months under other AAIS insurance line programs that provide property coverage, AAIS said.

Haoying Ewing, AAIS senior product development specialist for commercial lines, said: “The AAIS simplified fire protection classification system was developed to help users assign fire protection classifications using readily available information. The latest revision continues to rely on information that is readily available, either through the use of geographical information systems or through standard application entries.”

By example, AAIS said it provides access to Risk Meter, an online geographical information system, through the AAISdirect Internet service. Risk Meter can indicate how far a specific location is from a fire department.

AAIS said the policy forms and rating information it develops are used by more than 600 U.S property-casualty insurers.

Information on affiliating with AAIS for use of its commercial lines programs is available by contacting Rick Maka at [email protected] or by calling 800-564-AAIS.