Fire Department Master Plan Nashua, NH
Task 2-J:1SO Benchmarking Study
ESC] has partnered with the Insurance Services Office (ISO) and is prepared to provide as an additional
option a benchmarking survey using the city’s latest survey data.
The benchmarking report is intended to provide the user with an overview of how the Public Protection
Classification (PPC) score was developed for their community and recommendations for key areas of
improvement. The PPC system is a national system used by the New Jersey-based advisory organization
Insurance Services Office (ISO) to provide insurance providers with a classification rating of a local
community's fire protection. The PPC score classifies communities based upon a rating scale of 1 (best
protection) to 10 (no protection) and assesses all areas related to fire protection broken into three major
categories which include; emergency dispatch and communications (10%), water system supply and
distribution capabilities (40%), and the fire department itself (50%).
The PPC score is developed using the Fire Suppression Rating Schedule (FSRS), which outlines sub-
categories and the detailed requirements for each area of the evaluation. This benchmark report
summarizes the findings of the latest FSRS for the community and provides analysis of how the results
compare against 25 peer organizations chosen based upon similarities in population, service delivery
mechanism and structure and other key criteria. Further, the community results are compared with
regional and national averages and the report provides recommendations for improvement.
The report, while not intended to replace the PPC survey, provides insight about how a community was
evaluated and highest impact, cost-effective suggestions for improvement in an easily understandable
format. Additionally, it provides elected officials and administrators with comparative results from peer
communities so that they can develop and explain to the public, realistic and cost-effective policies with
respect to their community's fire suppression efforts. This study is an excellent opportunity for the
department to identify and remedy deficiencies in advance of its next ISO survey.
ES Emergency Services
Consulting International
