Is the fire alarm too loud? If you’ve ever been asked this question, you may have wondered whether the questioner had a point or not. First I reviewed the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) listed horn available on the market...
Stores and public venues need special communications: The professional contractor often greets the landing of a large project, such as a shopping mall, with enthusiasm; these projects offer both financial benefits to the firm...
EVERY ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR has at one time or another thought about ways to expand his or her business. Sometimes the day-to-day drill of operating a business keeps an electrical contractor from differentiating itself from...
The security and communications boom is upon us Background Study participants totaled 315, of which 261 said they currently are involved in security/life safety and/or communications work. The data was compiled and analyzed...
If you catch yourself thinking more about convergence of low-voltage electrical systems with computer and information technology (IT), you’re in good company. The rest of the industry is, too. According to a new Web poll by...
Ask any electrical contractor—fire alarm installations are on the upswing. Much of the need in the marketplace is driven by codes or the need to update an aging building infrastructure with new fire protection technologies...
In the chaos of finishing a large electrical project on time, it can be difficult to focus on commissioning the fire alarm system. This helps ensure the reliability of the system “after installation by identifying problems...
The Technical Committees that oversee the development of the National Fire Alarm Code, NFPA 72-2006, have started the cycle for processing proposed changes. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has published its...
In every building taller than two stories-and in some two-story buildings as well-regulations will require you to provide elevator recall as part of the building's fire alarm system installation. Numerous codes interrelate to...
More homeowners want CO detectors installed Smoke detection in the home has saved numerous lives and is now a normal part of every electrical contractor’s commercial installation package. However, carbon monoxide detector...
Is high-tech better? Fire alarm system technology seems to be developing faster each day. It wasn’t that many years ago when an electrician treated a fire alarm system just like any other electrical system he or she had to...
Often an electrical contractor will be asked to install a fire alarm system in what some would define as a “harsh” environment. In these cases, the contractor must be ready to satisfy his or her customer’s request for an...
Times have changed and so has the hospitality industry. Nowadays, bigger is almost always better. Quaint bed and breakfasts may still exist, but most hotels have gone in the other direction. Just take a look around at any...
Anyone planning to retrofit anything electrical in a building faces a difficult task at best. Only a true craftsman can successfully install something as a retrofit that looks like the original installation had included it...
Developing a ‘specialty’ crew is important The fire alarm system installation for most new building projects inevitably is a Division 16 responsibility. Because the fire alarm system often represents a small percentage of the...
Last month, in part one of this article, we said the National Electrical Code (NEC) and the “National Fire Alarm Code” from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) were two of the most important resources needed to...
How many times have you been to a large corporate complex and struggled to hear an announcement on the public address system? Now consider the same sound system and the dangers when the listener is instructed in emergency...
