WEBINARS


Fire alarm and detection systems FPA fire alarms webinar discusses changes


IN ONE of the FPA’s free webinars held in March, FPA trainer Shaun Lawrance explored key elements of fire alarm and detection that installers need to know, beginning by pointing to the ‘rather strange times’ but highlighting the importance of fire alarm system maintenance for all sorts of properties. His focus was on BS 5839-6:


2019: Fire detection and fire alarm systems for buildings. Code of practice for the design, installation, commissioning and maintenance of fire detection and fire alarm systems in domestic premises – but he would cover ‘other areas’ including related standards and accreditation schemes, as well as the latter’s requirements. Others he looked at included


BS 7273-6: 2019: Code of practice for the operation of fire protection measures. Fire detection and fire alarm systems. Interface with ancillary systems and equipment and BS 8629: 2019: Code of practice for the design, installation, commissioning and maintenance of evacuation alert systems for use by fire and rescue services in buildings containing flats. The accreditation schemes meanwhile included the Loss Prevention Standard (LPS) 1014 with requirements for certificated fire detection and alarm system firms and BAFE’s fire detection and alarm systems scheme SP203-1.


BS 5839


Mr Lawrance noted that this covers domestic premises, comes with a manual and has 27 sections, including focuses on fire risk assessments (FRAs), monitoring, grade and system choices, false alarm management and detector location. Whether installer or assessor, the standard ‘really does cover everything you need to know’, with elements including power supplies, zoning, remote transmission of signals, installation, commissioning, certification, and routine testing and maintenance. The manual also has an annex


section that provides ‘further informative details’ on what to look for in an FRA, while grades and system categories alongside model certificates are also featured. Specific annexes relate to areas of interest, such as annex F on how to prevent false alarms. Mr Lawrance pointed out that the standard covers houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) – and that it is ‘always quite important to have a look at what this standard actually covers’. While generally looking at HMOs and properties designed to accommodate one family or person, the standard also covers sheltered and supported housing; bungalows; multi storey houses; flats; maisonettes; holiday and mobile homes; mansions; shared houses; and self catering holiday accommodation for no more than ten people. It is limited to properties of 200m2


and, with larger properties,


part one of the standard ‘starts to come into play’. The standard ‘does not apply’


to caravans or boats, unless a boat is permanently moored, nor communal parts of flat blocks or maisonettes, small shops, factories or places of work, or an individual’s own property or house – this means a shared house ‘occupied by no more than six persons generally living together as a single family and where care is not provided’. As 80% of all fire deaths and injuries in the UK occur in domestic premises, amounting to 300 deaths and 9,000 injuries per year, fire


22 JUNE 2020 www.frmjournal.com


‘affects the most vulnerable, elderly and socially deprived’, which is ‘why it’s so important to get fire detection systems and compartmentation correct’. Designing alarm systems requires an FRA, which annex A of the standard provides information and detail on, giving a series of elements to be focused on in this instance. These include the probability


of fire; the probability and extent of harm if there is a fire; the probability of a system operating correctly in a fire; and the probability of early detection and warning to occupants. All four elements need to be balanced and Mr Lawrance gave the example of a building he had been asked to look at. This was a ten storey flat block with a fire alarm system that had been installed six months previously. On walking into the lobby, he


found that the system had a mains fault and he was asked by a resident if he was there to repair it. Answering that he was not, Mr Lawrance asked how long it had been faulty and discovered that it had been so ‘for a couple of days’, but that no residents had said anything as they were ‘just expecting it to be picked up’. Here he explained that it was ‘quite imperative’ that systems have battery backup, with 72 hours backup ‘generally’ required.


Premises and grades Focusing in on types and use of premises under the standard,


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