Q. Do you think UL 864 opened up more possibilities for building owners in terms of adding to their current fire alarm systems?
A. I don’t think the UL or ANSI standards drive much in the field. Let’s face it. Design of fire alarm systems is driven primarily by enforcement of the local code. Generally speaking, a new fire alarm system is going to be coming from an engineer with a set of drawings, plans and specifications.
Retrofit projects generally use an engineer. Our goal is to bring the property up to a reasonable standard by upgrading the system to the necessary levels. Once again, this is code and authority driven. Some authorities having jurisdiction interpret the standard to mean that if you make any modifications whatsoever to the current system, you have to bring it up to the current standards. Other authorities interpret it as anything you add to the system must meet the current standard. Others just say anything is better than nothing. It’s all over the board, really.
Q. Do you recommend going to the Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) first to find out their point of view?
A. Absolutely. As a matter of fact, we typically try to talk to the AHJ up front. After we do some preliminary design, we’ll have them review the plans and then move forward with final drawings and the project.
Q. What other challenges do retrofit projects present?
A. If I were talking to a business owner, I would suggest that he demand a product that is distributed by multiple vendors. If he chooses a proprietary product, he will have fewer places to get service for that product.
One of the challenges that we face on a regular basis is trying to assist a potential customer who is unhappy with his current provider. However, we are unable to help because of proprietary software or the inability to get the product because of the limited sales organization that represents the product. A building owner should make sure that he has at least a couple of vendor choices locally, so that if he becomes unhappy or dissatisfied with his current vendor, he will have another option.
Q. How does the fire- and life-safety industry contribute to the green design movement?
A. It’s not specifically related to green design, but I will tell you that the number of notification appliances with low current draw on a circuit influences cost. Mass notification and voice evacuation systems are possibly impacted the most because of the need for amplification. Amplifiers are probably the most expensive piece of the puzzle. With a lower current draw, the number of notification appliances on a single loop can be increased. Anything having a lower current draw is advantageous.
Q. What should a building operator know about the importance of a life-safety system?
A. One of the reasons I think I have been successful in training is because I am so passionate about life safety. One of the things that I think the industry needs to get across to building owners is that they need to be more focused and concerned about life safety.
Most building owners are looking at fire alarms as a code driven requirement, not from a life-safety perspective for their personnel, and they need to change that concept. That’s not about sales for this company or anything thereabouts. It’s about things that I run into on a regular basis, like, “Do I have to do this?”How valuable are your employees, or associates, or the people that work for you? How much are their lives worth?
I don’t think the industry has done a good job of communicating that to the marketplace. This isn’t about somebody standing over you saying, “You have to do this.” It’s more about protecting your people and your property.
Tags: A/V Notification, Fire sprinklers, NFPA, Q&A, Smoke detection
Posted in Audible/Visible Notification, Commercial, Fall 2007, NFPA, Q & A : Ask the Expert, Sprinkler Systems Monitoring
To receive more information about the content within this issue, fill out this Online Response Card.