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Fire Detection and Alarm Systems


Fire can be detected by people and manual fi re detection may be all that is required. However an automatic fi re detection and alarm system is normally considered necessary in the following buildings/ situations: • Buildings in which people sleep • Covered shopping complexes and large or complex places of assembly


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• Buildings with phased evacuation • In compensation for a reduction in standards of certain other fi re protection measures (e.g. extended travel distance or reduction in the fi re resistance of construction protecting the escape route)


• In lieu of vision between an inner room and its associated access room


• As a means of automatically operating other fi re protection measures such as closing fi re doors, the release of electronically locked doors or initiation of smoke control systems


An appropriate FD&A system will warn everyone in the building at the earliest opportunity so that they can exit the building or follow other instructions that are issued, and to also alert the Fire Brigade to allow early intervention. The FD&A system may be connected to other systems or equipment for the automatic control of fi re protection measures, e.g. fi re dampers or fi xed extinguishing systems.


Different types of fi re detector are suitable for different parts of your premises. Before installing an FD&A system, discuss your proposals with an appropriately qualifi ed and experienced specialist. Fire alarm systems should be installed by companies certifi ed to either LPS1014 or SP203-1 third party certifi cation schemes which prove their competence in that area. FD&A systems installed in commercial premises should be designed, installed, tested and maintained in accordance with BS 5839-1 recommendations. Systems can vary from small simple systems with one


fi re in your premises must be detected quickly and a warning given, allowing people to escape safely.


or two manual call points and sounders to systems which incorporate a large number of automatic fi re detectors, manual call points and sounders connected to numerous intercommunicating control and indicating panels.


Systems may also be designed to include sophisticated techniques to avoid false alarm. Various audio and visual alarm systems are available to manage the controlled evacuation of a building in the event of a fi re.


A wide range of equipment is available that will cater for the FD&A requirements of any type of premises. The types of equipment recommended may include some of the following range of products: • All systems will include manual call points that allow people to raise a fi re alarm, commonly known as “break glass” units


• Point detectors are designed to detect one or more of the four characteristics of fi re; heat, smoke, combustion gas (i.e. carbon monoxide), or radiation (i.e. infra-red or ultra violet)


• Multi-sensor detectors combine detector technology to improve the detection characteristics and reject false alarms


• Optical beam detectors provide economical and effective protection of large, open plan spaces where the use of traditional detection technologies would prove to be diffi cult and/or costly to install


• Line type heat detectors are used in large industrial spaces such as tunnels or car parks with adverse environmental conditions


• Aspirating smoke detectors are traditionally associated with early warning, high sensitivity applications such as the protection of computer rooms but they are also widely used to provide fl exible and discrete detection solutions – for example in inaccessible, harsh, unusually high or aesthetically sensitive areas


• Sounders and bells give an audible fi re alarm warning but these may be supplemented by voice alarm devices that give spoken instructions, or even


10 | BEST PRACTICE GUIDE TO FIRE SAFETY | BEST PRACTICE GUIDE


FIRE SAFETY


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