What comes to mind when you think of fire alarm system installation quality control? The two most obvious things are the manufacturer performing a quality control process on the equipment and always installing the equipment in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions and NFPA 72, National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code.

So what’s the big deal? If that describes your thought process, then as fire alarm system designer or installer, consider these questions: Why do fire alarm systems still have false alarms? Why do they still have system failures? And why do most fire alarm system acceptance tests fail the first time?

Training

Manufacturers follow a quality-control process to ensure their product failure rate remains low. This makes good business sense because it helps keep equipment returns to a minimum. It makes sense to buy fire alarm systems from reputable manufacturers that integrate quality control.

I have often spoken about the four factors that affect the reliability of a fire alarm installation, or what I call “mission effectiveness”: the equipment reliability, fire alarm system design, system installation and maintenance of the system.

We generally assume that the equipment has inherent reliability based on the manufacturers’ and UL’s quality-control processes, but we also know a system design can prove faulty. It can happen especially if the designer has minimal or no fire detection and alarm system experience. 

Two areas that have the largest effect on fire alarm system mission effectiveness are the system installation and maintenance. You may wonder, how can those two factors have such a profound effect if the installer always follows the manufacturer’s instructions and NFPA 72 requirements?

Several issues might cause this problem. First, the installer or technicians may not have received the proper training from the manufacturer. This could happen because the installer has not made the commitment to attend the manufacturer’s training classes, or because the installer chose to use equipment made by a manufacturer that does not offer training. This might be the reason the equipment costs less.

Second, programming the fire alarm equipment has proven so difficult that the installer needs many attempts before they can get the system to operate properly. This difficulty may also relate to a lack of training.

Third, the installer may not faithfully follow NFPA 72 requirements. A colleague  who is an instructor for the NFPA fire alarm and automatic sprinkler seminars has conducted a poll of attendees and asks each group if they have a copy of NFPA 72 or NFPA 13 in each installation truck. Eight out of 10 answered positively. 

Have a copy of the code

How can anyone, except for people with photographic memories, retain and retrieve the entire text of the code from their memories, on-demand? Without a copy at hand when questions arise, the installer’s technicians must either guess the right thing to do or do whatever they did on the last project. Most of their guesses are wrong. Following the National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code is not optional when installing fire alarm systems, so why wouldn’t an installer keep a copy of the code in every truck?

Failure to have a copy of the code at hand also affects the number of acceptance tests that fail on the first attempt. Most installers seem totally unaware of the requirements for proper testing and commissioning of fire alarm systems. They wrongly assume the code focuses only on the testing of fire alarm system components. They do not realize that following the code requirements helps ensure that the interfaced fire safety systems—such as the elevator recall, stairwell pressurization or HVAC control—connect properly and stand ready for testing in conjunction with the fire alarm system components.

System installation

Installers also seem oblivious to the code requirement for testing all devices. I would be rich if I had a dollar for every time an installer said to me, “You want to test everything?” So, what does constitute fire alarm system installation quality control? 

Every item I mentioned above works and integrates with the other items to complete the quality control equation. Installers need to purchase quality equipment, take advantage of the manufacturer’s training, own a copy of the code, follow its requirements and test 100% of each installation, including all interfaced fire safety systems.

Given the fact that we now have tablets in the hands of, at a minimum, each project foreman, with all kinds of information for technicians, ensuring the quality and mission effectiveness of each system should be extremely easy. Pay attention to quality control and your bottom line will grow with every system.

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