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WSRB Glossary
A
Automatic Aid- Refers to formal agreements made between different fire departments to automatically dispatch resources to neighboring departments in the case of an incident.
- A building sprinkler system designed to automatically activate and discharge water when heat from a fire activates individual sprinkler heads within the system.
B
BCEGS® (Building Code Effectiveness Grading Schedule)- A program – developed by ISO / Versik – that evaluates the effectiveness of a given community’s building code adoption and enforcement practices.
- Residential BCEGS: A score reflecting residential construction code enforcement within a community.
- Commercial BCEGS: A score reflecting commercial construction code enforcement within a community.
Building Footprint
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Two-dimensional birds-eye view of a structure.
- A collection of high-value, hard-to-find data sets designed to help underwriters stay ahead of emerging risks, gain clearer insight into existing risks, and strengthen their business portfolios.
- The estimated cost of rebuilding or replacing a structure utilizing comparable materials / methods at current prices.
C
Class-Rated Property- A property rated using standardized rates and classifications, usually homogenous structures with low hazards, limited fire risks, and simple layouts; distinct from an individually rated, or Specifically Rated, property.
Class A Fire Station / Class B Fire Station
- Class A fire stations are staffed and/or equipped at a higher level than Class B fire
stations. Credit from Class B stations is limited to PPC 9.
- An onsite evaluation of a commercial property – conducted by a WSRB Commercial Property Analyst - aimed at documenting important features of the structure, including construction, occupancy, protection features, exposures, and additional information relevant to the underwriting process.
- A thorough report summarizing information gathered during a WSRB Commercial Property Inspection.
- Services that help insurers meet Washington State regulatory requirements through forms, rules, and loss cost filings with the OIC.
- A classification describing the fire-resistive characteristics of a building's structural components.
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- Frame: Construction primarily composed of combustible materials such as wood.
- Joisted Masonry: Masonry exterior walls supported by combustible floor and roof assemblies.
- Non-Combustible: Construction utilizing non-combustible structural materials but not necessarily designed to resist fire for extended periods.
- Masonry Non-Combustible: Masonry exterior walls combined with non-combustible structural components.
- Modified Fire Resistive: Construction with significant fire-resistive features but not meeting the highest fire-resistive standards.
- Fire Resistive: Construction designed to maintain structural integrity during severe fire conditions through extensive fire-resistant materials and assemblies.
- Mixed Construction: Buildings that are constructed using several construction classes.
- Stands for “Construction, Occupancy, Protection, Exposure”; the four key considerations for the underwriting of any property.
- Construction: The building materials used, the age of the building, the construction class, the earthquake class, square footage, number of stories and other building features.
- Occupancy: The operations of the occupants.
- Protection: The protection class of the community, the specific property and the presence (or absence) of an automated fire sprinkler system.
- Exposure: The structures in the nearby vicinity.
CSP Code
- Commercial Statistical Plan; used to identify the type of business a building’s occupants are engaged in.
D
Distance to Fire Station- The measured road distance between a property and its recognized responding fire station.
E
Earthquake Classifications- A classification describing the expected seismic performance of a building based on construction characteristics.
- The systems, personnel, facilities, and procedures used to receive, process, and dispatch emergency calls.
- Conditions or nearby features that have the potential to increase likelihood or severity of loss.
- The process of identifying and evaluating hazards that may contribute to property damage or loss.
F
Fire Department- An organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression services as well as other rescue services.
- An area served by a fire protection agency, typically tied to several communities and unincorporated areas.
- The amount of available water for firefighting purposes (measured in gallons-per-minute, or gpm)
- Flow Testing: The act of discharging water at a measured rate of flow from the water system at a given location to observe the corresponding pressure drop in the mains.
- Connection point on a water system, allowing firefighters to access water when needed.
- Hydrant Distribution: The placement and spacing of fire hydrants throughout a service area; affects water supply availability and fire protection coverage.
- A defined area used for evaluating and applying fire protection classifications.
- Activities that reduce fire risk and improve emergency preparedness, including fire code enforcement, public education, fire investigations, and building code enforcement.
FIRE STATIONS
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Fire stations are classified, as part of WSRB’s grading process, as Class A, Class B, or Unrecognized for rating, and recognized only within their own jurisdiction, unless evaluated for Automatic Aid Agreement Credit.
- Potential for flooding in a specific location.
G
Geographic Information System (GIS)- Computer systems that capture, analyze, and visually display geospatial data, often in the form of a map.
- Data that relates directly to specific geographical locations on or near the earth’s surface.
H
Hazard- Similar to Exposure, hazards are conditions or circumstances that may increase the probability or severity of loss; can include natural hazards, occupancy hazards, etc.
- Hazard Mitigation: Proactive steps taken to reduce vulnerability to hazards
I
Inspection Capture- WSRB application (iCap) for requesting and tracking commercial property inspections
- WSRB Department that inspects and documents commercial properties to calculate associated loss costs.
- Correlation between the total amount of insurance carried (coverage) and the replacement value of the insured property.
L
Liquefaction- Phenomenon when water saturated soil stops acting like a solid and starts behaving like a liquid.
- Generatable PDF from the WSRB Protection Tool, providing a comprehensive look into address specific risk and hazard information; includes information on emergency services, classification results, BCEGS, flood hazard score, and earthquake data.
- The portion of a rate representing expected future claims and claim adjustment expenses. Sometimes also called pure premium or pure cost, loss costs are what an insurer pays to cover claims, including claims settlement costs.
- Advisory Loss Cost: A benchmark loss cost developed from historical loss experience and actuarial analysis. Insurers use advisory loss costs, along with their own expense and underwriting considerations, when determining premiums.
- Tentative Loss Cost: A preliminary loss cost assignment subject to review or verification.
- Loss Cost Multiplier: A factor applied by an insurer to advisory loss costs to develop final rates.
M
MMI- The Modified Mercalli Intensity scale measures an earthquake’s intensity, indicating the strength of shaking at a specific location – not just the epicenter – as measured by the effects on people, structures, and the natural environment.
N
Natural Hazard- A naturally occurring event or condition capable of causing property damage or loss. Includes tsunami, landslide, earthquake, wildfire, flood, etc.
O
Occupancy- The use or purpose of a building or space.
- Occupancy Classification: A standardized category assigned based on how a building is occupied or used.
- Office of the Insurance Commissioner; Washington State's insurance regulator, responsible for overseeing insurers, enforcing insurance laws, and protecting consumers.
P
Parcel Boundary- Legal boundary defining a parcel of land.
- A WSRB Protection Class (PC) is a score from 1 to 10 that represents the community-provided fire protection capabilities available at a specific property. A PC of 1 indicates exemplary fire protection capabilities are available; a PC of 10 indicates the fire protection capabilities, if any, are not sufficient to receive credit for insurance. Each community in Washington state has a PC, which is used as a starting point to determine the PC of individual properties.
- Individual Property Protection Class: Fire protection classification assigned to an individual property.
- Community Protection Class: Fire protection classification assigned to an entire community.
- The WSRB department responsible for evaluating a community’s fire suppression and prevention capabilities, and creating PC and BCEGS ratings.
- The methodology used to evaluate community fire protection capabilities and assign Protection Class ratings.
Q
QuakeScout- A geospatial tool that provides property specific earthquake risk information, including seismic hazards, soil type, MMI, and tsunami risk.
R
RCP Code- Stands for “Rating, Construction, and Protection”; it’s a four-digit code that contains valuable information designed to provide underwriters and raters a quick summary of a risk.
- The fire department acknowledged as providing primary fire suppression services to a property.
- The estimated expense required to rebuild a structure following a total loss.
- The process of identifying, evaluating, and measuring potential sources of loss.
- A WSRB tool used to locate and retrieve underwriting and inspection information for properties.
- Methodology and framework for classifying and rating certain commercial properties based on construction, occupancy, protection, and exposure characteristics.
S
Section Township Range (STR)- A land-survey reference system used to identify property locations.
- A property evaluated individually rather than assigned a generalized class rate; distinct from a Class Rated property.
- A premium or rating benefit provided for qualifying automatic sprinkler protection.
- Slope is the measurement of rise or fall on any given land surface. Because buildings constructed on land that has a larger slope have increased exposure to risks such as landslides, earthquakes, floods, and wind, policies written for these types of properties are much higher than for properties with a smaller slope.
- WSRB’s web-based GIS application that enables users to assess property-specific terrain data and generate comprehensive reports.
- An organization authorized to utilize WSRB products and services. Learn more about a WSRB Subscription.
T
Tender Credit- A rating consideration recognizing the ability of water tender trucks to supplement firefighting water supply in qualifying areas.
U
Underwriter- An insurance professional responsible for evaluating risk and determining coverage terms.
W
Water Supply- The sources, infrastructure, and delivery capability used to provide water for firefighting.
- A refinement to Protection Class (PC) that recognizes certain properties located between five and seven road miles from a recognized Class A fire station, when those properties still benefit from meaningful fire suppression capabilities.
- The Washington Insurance Examining Bureau (WIEB) is a non-profit, public service organization licensed by the Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner and established in accordance with the Washington Insurance Code. WIEB operates alongside organizations like WSRB, but with a distinctly different role. WSRB focuses on the front end - developing and delivering data, rules, loss costs, and fire protection classifications that insurers rely on when writing policies. WIEB, by contrast, functions on the back end - reviewing those policies after they are written to confirm that the approved rates, rules, and forms were applied correctly.
- The Washington Surveying and Rating Bureau is an independent, not-for-profit organization operating in the public interest. WSRB produces data that insurance companies covering property in Washington state can use to better understand, assess, and price fire risk. Accurate data from an independent source helps insurance companies evaluate risk and allows insurance consumers to feel confident that their fire premiums are fair.