(formerly) a royal or official messenger, especially one representing a monarch in an ambassadorial capacity during wartime. 2. a person or thing that precedes or comes before; forerunner; harbinger: the returning swallows, those heralds of spring. 3. a person or thing that proclaims or announces: A good newspaper should be a herald of truth.
1 According to the Fire Protection Research Organization's 2009 Fire Sprinkler Cost Assessment, sprinkler installation costs homebuilders $0.38-$3.66 per sprinklered square foot, with an average cost of $1.61 per sprinklered square foot.2  For an average 2,200-square-foot home, expect to pay about $3,542. Nonmetallic installations average $1.18 per sprinklered square foot; a mix of both types costs on average $1.56 per sprinklered square foot; solely using metallic piping typically costs $3.19 per sprinklered square foot. 2  Location can play a role in the cost of fire sprinkler installation.
Cost of installing sprinklers declines. According to a recent NFPA research report, fire sprinkler costs have dropped in recent years. âIn 2008, the average cost we found was $1.61 per square foot of installed sprinklers,â Carli says. âIn 2013, the average is $1.35.â She credits mandates, which means more contractors are installing fire sprinklers in those areas, with the price drop. In some parts of California, according to the report, the cost is lower than $1 per square foot.