As commercial fire alarm system capabilities increase, designers of record are increasingly combining previously stand alone (single station) carbon monoxide (CO) detection into a supervised, reporting fire alarm system. If the unmonitored, single station CO detector is unplugged or is otherwise non-operational, no one knows. A CO detector, or better still, combination smoke/CO detector that [Read More]
Chicago Life Safety Evaluation 2012 – Information on Amendments
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The Chicago City Council passed two amendments to the Chicago Building Code (CBC) addressing life safety deficiencies in high rise buildings built prior to 1975. Previously, these buildings were exempted from the CBC’s life safety requirements. Collectively, they are commonly and alternatively referred to as the High Rise Building Ordinance, the High Rise Sprinkler Ordinance, [Read More]
NFPA 72® – 2010 Chapter 24: Emergency Communications Systems
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Throughout this decade, the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) has strived to keep its codes current and applicable with the rapid advances in technology. Additionally, the discoveries of communication gaps uncovered by tragic events have introduced new concerns in terms of life safety. After years of attempting to fit new technologies and responsibilities in the [Read More]
An Introduction to Fire Alarm Systems – Defining the System
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Fire alarm systems have two jobs. It must detect a potential fire in a facility, and then notify its occupants. It’s that simple. Getting the system to work properly and meet local life safety codes; that’s not so simple. This article is the first in a series that will explain fire alarm systems to personnel [Read More]
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