Affiliated Customer Service Inc. | Sales - Service - Testing - Inspection | Chicago, Illinois

Affiliated Customer Service Inc. has over 40 years of experience in efficient handling of fire alarm needs at competitive prices. Whether your requirements involve a new installation, tenant build-outs, retrofit replacements, multiple site tests or servicing existing third party equipment, we have the experience, the onhand equipment and the labor force to cover it all. We serve the whole of Chicagoland, NW Indiana and Southern Wisconsin. Call us today at 630-434-7900.

Archives for 2015

Are Sprinklers Required Above False Ceilings?

by Gene Rowe 3 Comments

We’re not a sprinkler contractor, but we frequently coordinate sprinker installations with fire alarm installations. Many design professionals want a single point of contact to ask life safety questions, so I get asked a lot of questions regarding sprinkler requirements. Here’s one that I researched the answer for: Q: Are sprinklers required above false ceilings? I have read through [Read More]

Filed Under: Code Requirements, Installation Requirements, Life Safety Articles, Sprinklers Tagged With: CMS Life Safety Requirements, CMS Sprinkler Requirements, False Ceiling Coverage, Fire alarm inspection, Fire alarm service, Healthcare Facilities, Life Safety Evaluation, NFPA 101 Requirements, NFPA 13 Requirements, Sprinkler Requirements

New Carbon Monoxide Requirements

by Gene Rowe Leave a Comment

Since January 1, 2016 the State of Illinois has required carbon monoxide (CO) detectors in schools which fall under the jurisdiction of the Illinois State Board of Education. Public Act 099-0470 inserted language to 105 ILCS 5/10 that added the requirement for school boards of education to ensure each school has proper CO detection in [Read More]

Filed Under: Carbon Monoxide, City of Chicago Articles, Code Requirements, Fire Alarm Testing Requirements, Installation Requirements, Life Safety Articles, Smoke Detectors Tagged With: Carbon Monoxide Detectors, Carbon Monoxide Requirements, Chicago Building Code, Combination Smoke/CO Detector, Illinois Carbon Monoxide Detection, Integrating carbon monoxide detectors, system carbon monoxide detector

When does a fire alarm panel have to be in a two hour rated room?

by Gene Rowe Leave a Comment

I was recently asked a question regarding when life safety codes mandate two hour protection of the fire panel. In a general alarm, general evacuation facility, there is no code requirement. In that situation, people get out of the building immediately so there’s no need to communicate with occupants within the building after the fire department arrives. It’s only [Read More]

Filed Under: 2 Hour Cabling, Code Requirements, Installation Requirements, Life Safety Articles, Uncategorized Tagged With: Chicago Building Code, Chicago CI Cable, CI Cable Chicago, Fire Alarm Risers, Fire Alarm Survivability, Intelligible Design, Life Safety Evaluation, MI cable listing, NFPA 72, NFPA 72 survivability requirements, NFPA 72 testing requirements, Survivability Requirements, Two Hour Cable Rating, Two Hour Rating, Two Hour Requirements, UL 2 hour cable, UL 2196, UL 2196 Cable, UL listed two hour cable

Defining Generator Testing Frequency Requirements

by Gene Rowe Leave a Comment

I recently received a question regarding emergency generator testing in a medical facility that touched on testing frequency and what defines a method of off site monitoring. Here’s the question: My local AHJ expects my Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) to run the generator weekly. They utilize NFPA 1 (2012) and NFPA 72 (2010). Both NFPA 1 in [Read More]

Filed Under: Code Requirements, Fire Alarm Testing Requirements, Installation Requirements, Life Safety Articles Tagged With: Chicago fire alarm inspection, Chicago fire alarm testing, Emergency Generator Testing, Emergency Generator Testing Frequencies, Fire alarm inspection, Fire alarm preventive maintenance, Fire Alarm Risers, Fire alarm service, Fire alarm test, NFPA 72, NFPA 72 testing requirements, PEARS, Public Emergency Alarm Reporting System