Because March is still winter, the weather can be very cold and stormy or it can be nice and warm. Since a lot of people will be staying inside with the heat on, this seems to be a good time to review the carbon monoxide...
Michael Jordan said, “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.” Developing relationships and good communication with other stakeholders for a project will certainly save time, increase profits and...
How well do you understand the NFPA 72 requirements for pathway survivability? Like many other fire alarm applications, the code is not always clear, and there are quite a few different interpretations on this subject. Having...
Your life could depend on being able to hear and understand emergency messages broadcast from an emergency voice alarm system. Originally, NFPA 72, National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code, only stated that the message had to...
Two issues always seem to cause the most headaches when installing fire alarm systems. One has to do with duct detectors. The other has to do with installing fire alarm devices to interface with elevator controllers. There is...
Adding the Circuits and Pathways chapter was one of the many changes made in the 2010 edition of NFPA 72 as part of the restructuring of the National Fire Alarm Code. The primary reason for restructuring was to add a chapter...
As a member of the NFPA 72 Protected Premises Technical Committee during the past few code cycles, I have found it very interesting to discuss proposed changes to fire alarms of the future. Technology is improving the...
Some of the greatest changes in NFPA 72 over the last couple of code cycles have been the changes in ways to transmit signals from the fire alarm control unit to the monitoring facility. I’d like to take this opportunity to...
Happy New Year! Now that there is a lot of new construction going on, it is easy to put testing and servicing of fire alarms on the back burner. Since a number of companies will do just that, now is the best time for...
What will fire alarm systems of the future be like? Technology is changing rapidly, and historically, fire alarm systems have not kept up with these modifications. That is starting to change. In the 2016 NFPA 72, National...
There have been a few changes to the requirements for fire alarm system power supplies, and more are coming. This is a good time to review the ones we have so far. Obviously, since a fire alarm system is a life safety system...
In the January issue, we discussed changes to the fire alarm requirements in the 2018 International Building and Fire Codes. This month, let’s look at changes in the 2018 NFPA 101, Life Safety Code. First and foremost, it is...
Happy New Year to all of you! Each year, I like to start out with a column on fire alarm changes for new editions of the codes. We begin with the 2018 International Building Code (IBC). As a reminder, the fire alarm...
In the last year or two, I have written a few articles about NFPA 3, Recommended Practice for Commissioning of Fire Protection and Life Safety Systems, and NFPA 4, Standard for Integrated Fire Protection and Life Safety...
As I teach fire alarm seminars around the country, one of the greatest problem areas brought up is interfacing fire alarm systems with elevators. Elevator and fire inspectors do not enforce the same codes, and therein lies...
We have all heard the phrase “That’s good enough for government work!” Whether said in jest, sarcasm or resignation, it implies you have done all you’re going to do, and the result will just have to suffice. In the world of...
For years, there has been concern about the waking ability of fire alarm audible notification appliances. In general, they have gone through numerous changes since the 1980s. Back then, it was common to use bells to signal an...
Beginning with the 2010 edition of NFPA 72, National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code, all of the “styles” of circuits were deleted, and four “classes” were added. A new chapter, Circuits and Pathways, was added during the...
There has been discussion about unwanted alarms in the last few years. The fire service says this is “an industry problem,” but is it? What can be done to improve the reliability of fire alarm systems so people stop ignoring...
For healthcare facilities, many states use only National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 101, Life Safety Code, because it is the code that the joint commission references. However, some states use the International...
