Quantified Assessment of Options

The second trait in Paul Bryant’s, 7 Traits of Highly Effective Fire Engineers, is “being objective”.  Successful fire protection professionals make decisions based on facts, even if these facts contradict personal experiences or beliefs. To reduce the level of subjectivity in the selection of fire protection solutions, Bryant provides a table he refers to as the “quantified assessment of options”.

This table bases fire protection system selection on three factors: performance, logistics, and economics. Performance describes how a system will perform within a specific environment.  Logistics refers to the practical application of system installation and maintenance. The economic factor addresses the life cost of the system.

Each system or technology option will be scored on these three factors. Each of these scores will be multiplied and a total score provided. The total score should provide a clear path for the best choice of system or technology to be used.

The table template is as follows:

*the number scale may be project specific as differing projects may weigh one factor more than another

Here is a sample issue addressed utilizing the table:

 

This table and the “quantitative assessment of options” process will help to avoid pre-judgement and base systems and technologies on their pure merits.