Disclaimer

1. What this disclaimer covers

This disclaimer is issued by PreFire Systems LLC (“PreFire,” “we,” “us” or “our”). It applies to the PreFire DIY Installation Course, the course materials and field guides, the pre-built PreFire Master Hub sold with the course, The Book on Wildfire Protection where it is included, this website at course.prefiresystems.com, and the customer course portal at learn.prefiresystems.com (together, the “Services”).

Please read it before you buy, and again before you begin an installation. If you do not accept it, do not use the Services.

2. No guarantee of protection

No wildfire-protection system, including the PreFire Ember Dousing System, can guarantee that a home or any other structure will survive a wildfire. Wildfire behaviour depends on fuel, weather, wind, terrain, ember load, the actions of firefighters and neighbours, and factors nobody controls. A correctly installed and maintained system can reduce risk. It cannot remove it.

PreFire is designed as one layer in a broader wildfire-readiness strategy. It does not replace, and should not be used instead of:

• defensible space and vegetation management around your home;
• home hardening, such as ember-resistant vents, roofing and siding;
• a family evacuation plan;
• the instructions of fire officials and emergency services.

Nothing on this site, in the course or in the book is a promise about how your property will fare in a fire.

3. Education, not site-specific advice

The course teaches a method: how the PreFire system works, how to plan zones, how to build a Master Hub, and how to install, test and maintain the system, demonstrated on a real home. That home is not your home.

The course is general educational content. It is not a design, specification or engineering assessment for your property, and Tim has not inspected your property. Your roof shape, water supply, pressure, elevation, vegetation, climate and local rules all differ from the examples shown. You are responsible for adapting what you learn to your own situation, and for deciding whether you need a professional to do that with you.

Nothing in the Services is legal, insurance, financial or professional engineering advice. Buying the course does not create a contractor–client, consultant–client or any other professional relationship between you and Tim Murphy or PreFire.

4. Installation safety is your responsibility

Installing a PreFire system involves work that can cause serious injury or death if done carelessly, including:

• working on roofs, ridges, eaves and ladders, at height and on sloped or slippery surfaces;
• handling pipe, fittings and pressurised water lines;
• wiring and mounting an electrical controller and any pumps, valves or power supplies;
• using power tools, cutting tools and adhesives or solvents;
• working near power lines, in heat, or during fire season.

You install at your own risk. Follow the safety guidance in the course, the instructions of every tool and material manufacturer, and the applicable electrical and plumbing codes. Use fall protection when working at height. Turn off power before working on electrical components. Do not work alone on a roof.

Work only within your abilities. If any part of the installation is beyond your experience, or if local law requires a licensed trade to perform it, hire a licensed professional for that part. The course explains what needs to be done. It cannot judge whether you should be the one doing it.

5. Permits, codes and approvals

Building, plumbing, electrical and fire codes vary by state, county and city, and they change. Some jurisdictions require permits, inspections or licensed installers for roof penetrations, backflow prevention, electrical work or connection to a water supply. Water districts may restrict outdoor water use or require specific backflow devices. Homeowner associations may regulate anything visible from the street.

It is your responsibility to find out which rules apply to your property, to obtain any permits and approvals, and to comply with them. The course does not tell you what your local code requires, and we cannot. Failure to comply may result in fines, orders to remove the system, or problems with a future sale or insurance claim.

6. What the system depends on

The PreFire system only works if the things it depends on are working. During a wildfire, some of them may not be. In particular:

• Water. The system needs an adequate supply at sufficient pressure for the duration of the threat. Municipal pressure often drops during a wildfire as demand rises and infrastructure fails. Wells need power. Tanks empty.
• Power. Controllers, pumps and valves need electricity or a charged backup. Utilities routinely shut off power ahead of and during wildfires.
• Wind. High wind carries spray away from where it is aimed and can defeat any sprinkler coverage.
• Maintenance and testing. Clogged nozzles, cracked lines, frozen pipes, dead batteries and controller errors are all common and all silent until the system is needed. The course teaches a testing and maintenance routine. Following it is up to you.
• Correct installation. Coverage gaps, undersized or poorly routed laterals, and poor Hub placement reduce or eliminate the system’s effect.

Plan for these failures. Do not assume the system will run unattended for as long as you need it to.

7. Evacuation comes first

When fire officials order or advise you to evacuate, leave. Do not delay your departure to start, adjust or watch a sprinkler system. Do not return during a fire to operate it. No property is worth a life, and firefighters cannot protect a home while rescuing the people who stayed to defend it.

Design your system so that it can be started early and left running as you leave, or so that it starts without you. Never treat it as a reason to stay.

8. About Tim’s credentials

Tim Murphy is described on this site as a Certified Fire Investigator and a Licensed Contractor. Those credentials are his, they were issued by the bodies that grant them, and they apply where those bodies have authority. A contractor license is issued by a particular state and does not authorise work in other states.

Tim’s credentials describe his qualifications to teach. They do not transfer to you. Completing the course does not make you a licensed contractor, a fire investigator or a certified installer, and it does not entitle you to represent yourself as one. Where a license is required to perform work, you must hold it or hire someone who does.

9. The pre-built Master Hub

The Master Hub sold with the course bundle, with its main line and manifold, is the start of a PreFire system. It is not a complete house kit. A working installation also needs laterals, fittings, ridge sprinklers, nozzles, a controller, mounting hardware and other materials that depend on your property and your system design, and that you source yourself. The course teaches you how to choose and install them.

The Hub is built to order in the zone configuration you select. Choosing the right configuration depends on the system you design for your property using the planning modules of the course. We can describe the configurations. We cannot tell you which one your property needs without a design.

Some components may ship detached and need to be fitted after delivery. The Hub must be installed, connected, tested and maintained as the course instructs. Its performance in your system depends on your installation and on the factors in section 6. Any warranty on the Hub is set out in our Terms of Sale, and nothing in this disclaimer extends it.

10. Installations shown on this site

Photographs, video and descriptions of installed systems, including the installation in Williams, Arizona, show real PreFire installations. They are examples of the method, not a promise of results. Every property is different, and the outcome on yours will depend on your design, your installation, your maintenance and the fire you face.

Disclosure. The homeowner quoted, Karin Fourie, owns fivehats.ai, which is paid by PreFire to build this website and produce the course. Tim Murphy installed the Williams system on her home at no charge for labor; she paid for the materials. Her comments are her own words about that installation and were not paid for or scripted, but you should read them knowing that relationship.

None of the installations shown has been tested in an actual wildfire unless we say so explicitly.

11. Insurance

Installing a PreFire system may or may not affect your homeowner’s insurance. Some insurers offer discounts for wildfire mitigation; others do not, and some may have requirements about who installs exterior systems or about roof modifications. We make no promise about any insurance discount, eligibility or coverage. Talk to your insurer before you install.

12. Materials, tools and third parties

The course refers to categories of pipe, fittings, sprinklers, nozzles, controllers and tools. Where a specific brand or product is mentioned, it is an example that Tim has used. We do not manufacture those products, we are not responsible for them, and we receive no payment for mentioning them unless we say so. Check every product’s own specifications, ratings and instructions before you rely on it.

This site links to other websites, including prefiresystems.com, wildfireguide.com and Stripe. We are not responsible for their content or their policies.

13. Patent pending

“Patent pending” means that a patent application for the PreFire Ember Dousing System has been filed and is awaiting examination. It is not a statement that a patent has been granted, and it is not a promise that one will be. The course grants you the right to build a system for your own property, and nothing in the Services grants you a license to manufacture, sell or distribute PreFire systems or Master Hubs to others.

14. Accuracy and updates

The course and this site reflect Tim’s methods and knowledge at the time they were produced. Techniques, materials, codes and best practice change. We may update, correct or add to the course at any time, and we will try to tell customers about significant changes, but we cannot promise that every part of the content is current, complete or free of errors. If you find something you believe is wrong or unsafe, tell us.

15. Limits on our responsibility

The Services are provided for your information and education, and you use them at your own risk. To the fullest extent permitted by law, PreFire, Tim Murphy and anyone working with us are not liable for any injury, death, property damage, fire loss, code violation, insurance consequence or other loss arising from your use of the Services, your installation, your operation or maintenance of a PreFire system, or your reliance on anything in the course, the book or this site.

Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations of liability, and nothing here takes away rights you have under consumer protection law that cannot be waived. The full terms that govern your purchase, including any warranty on the Master Hub and our refund policy, are set out in our Terms of Sale and Refund Policy.

16. Questions

If anything in this disclaimer is unclear, or you are unsure whether the course is right for your situation, ask before you buy: