Recently at a gathering of fire alarm industry friends, we lamented that even though we felt confident that NFPA 72, National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code, provided very good guidance for designers, installers and AHJs, we still find new installations that do not meet code requirements.

We have licensed fire protection engineers; continual training available from NECA, the AFAA, NFPA and others; NICET-certified technicians; and state-of-the-art fire alarm system components available from reputable manufacturers. So why do we still see a preponderance of non-code-compliant fire alarm system installations? 

Is tech too technical?

Has the business entered a phase where everything has become too technical? Has this new technology exceeded the abilities of those who must enforce the code? Has the code itself become too complicated?

Although my friends and I may be somewhat prejudiced, we don’t believe the code has become too complicated. Indeed, hard work goes into making it more user-friendly with each revision cycle.

We did agree that new technology may have begun to outstrip some installers’ abilities. New pressures come to bear daily for companies that may have enough technicians, but not enough system programmers to meet deadlines. We hear many stories from AHJs that they must attend a system acceptance test multiple times due to mistakes in the programming. So, this may be a cause that needs our serious attention.

Talking to manufacturers who distribute products through engineered systems distributors (ESDs), I find that getting their ESDs to send more than one person to learn how to program the fire alarm control units seems a little like trying to convince them to go to a dentist.

A conventional fire alarm system design seems relatively straightforward. Such designs include devices and appliances located in accordance with the code and incorporate proper visibility and audibility (and intelligibility for voice-alarm communications systems). With such a system, the installation and approval should proceed smoothly. But with the new addressable-­analog fire alarm systems, technology may have outpaced the industry’s abilities to properly install, program and present an installation to the AHJs for approval. So, obviously, training remains a critical issue.

Manufacturers’ responsibilities

But maybe manufacturers need to step back and redesign their control programming. Maybe they need to make it simpler. Or maybe the training they provide does not offer an adequate level of competency. The one thing that seems to ring true is when a truly qualified company with competent, trained technicians installs a new, complicated fire alarm system, few problems, if any, surface.

Some technicians are competent enough to understand the manufacturer’s training. But based on the results we see, the supply of competent technicians is limited.

Many companies find their one programmer gets burned out running from one crisis project to another. No amount of money will satisfy a technician who constantly feels pressured to program a system rapidly enough to meet acceptance test deadlines.

I would like to propose a solution: everyone in the chain of fire alarm system installations should develop more discipline. Designers need to evaluate just how complicated the fire alarm system must be to satisfy the owner’s fire protection goals. The manufacturer should more strictly assess whether they should accept a particular company as an ESD. The installation companies must discipline themselves to only accept as much work as they can logistically complete, and they must train more technicians to become competent programmers. For these things to happen, there must be loyalty between the ESD and manufacturer. Each must share the cost burden to become the best in their respective fields.

Just about everything is in place to help meet systems operational reliability goals, in my opinion. But we don’t use the tools we have and will not discipline ourselves to do the right thing. While competition may cause us to forget our original objective—to install a fire alarm system that is code-compliant and provides the intended life safety to occupants—it also seems hard to remember that we intend to install a fire alarm system the right way the first time. In the end, we will suffer from non-code-­compliant system installations unless we make good use of the tools and training we have available.

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