The intended audience for this article is Agents and Insureds/End Customers.

e.g., frame, masonry, masonry veneer, superior construction, mixed—masonry/frame.

Frame: Exterior walls of wood, brick veneer, stone veneer, wood ironclad, stucco on wood, construction with combustible floors and roofs.

Joisted Masonry: Exterior walls of masonry or fire-resistive material (adobe, brick, concrete, gypsum block, hollow concrete block, stone, tile, or similar materials) rated for not less than 1 hour, with combustible floor and roof.

Non Combustible: Exterior walls, floor, and supports made of metal, asbestos, gypsum, or other noncombustible materials.

Masonry Noncombustible: Exterior walls of masonry or fire-resistive material not less than four inches thick (adobe, brick, concrete, gypsum block, hollow concrete block, stone, tile, or similar materials) rated for not less than 1 hour, with noncombustible or slow-burning floors and roofs—regardless of the type of insulation on the roof surfaces.

Modified fire-resistive: Exterior walls, floors, and roof of masonry or fire-resistive material with a fire-resistance rating of at least 1 hour but less than 2 hours.

Fire Resistive: Exterior walls, floors, and roof of masonry or fire-resistive material with a fire-resistance rating of at least 2 hours.

How the building is being used for commercial property and whether it is owner-occupant or renter-occupied for homeowners and the number of families for which the building is designed.

e.g., quality of the responding fire department including whether it is paid or volunteer, adequacy of water pressure and water supply in the community, distance of the structure to the nearest fire station, quality of the fire hydrant, and the distance of the structure to the nearest hydrant.

The 10 categories used by the Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO), to rank the fire protection in cities and towns according to the following three factors.

Fire department quality—this includes its equipment (e.g., ladders, fire trucks), staffing (i.e., paid or volunteer), training, and geographic distribution of firefighting companies; this factor accounts for 50 percent of the total classification.

Water supply system—this includes the condition, distribution, inspection, and maintenance of fire hydrants and a comparison of the available water to the amount needed to extinguish a fire; this accounts for 40 percent of the total classification.

Fire alarm and communications systems—this includes telephone systems, telephone lines, staffing of these systems, and the quality of the dispatching system; this factor accounts for 10 percent of the total classification.

The Public Protection Classification program is a rating system with a range from 1 (best) to 10 (worst) that numerically ranks a community's municipal fire protection system. Class 1 represents an excellent fire protection system, and class 10 indicates virtually no protection. Actually, classes 9 and 10 are both "unprotected" classes; that is, they indicate rural areas without adequate fire hydrants or fire departments. Whether protection class 9 or 10 applies is determined by the distance from an available fire hydrant and a fire department that would respond.

Nearly all U.S. insurers use ISO's public protection classification in calculating rates for homes. Note, however, that many insurers deviate in some way from the rules of the public protection classification program through the use of independently filed rules.

Risks of loss posed by neighboring property or the surrounding area, taking into consideration what is located near the property, such as an office building, a subdivision, or a fireworks factory.