You have a duty, both legal and ethical, to protect your customers and employees from the devastating effects of a fire by installing commercial fire alarm systems to alert emergency responders.
By installing a fire alarm system for commercial building in your premises you can prevent injury, death, and damage to property. The system monitors the building for heat and smoke and signs of fire, informing the authorities to evacuate the building.
Why is commercial fire alarm system installation so critical for businesses? Consider this data, every year there are 470,000 structure fires in the United States and a very common occurrence in some fire-prone states. This is why installing commercial fire alarm systems is not your discretion, it is regulated by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 72, the National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code.
The Code lays down the ground rules for designing, installing, testing, and maintaining fire alarm systems in commercial buildings. Hence, it is important that you hire a reputed commercial fire alarm monitoring company that understands the Code and installs systems that allow fast response times and follow statutory requirements.
It is not easy to design and install a quality fire alarm system that is in sync with the local building codes. While setting up a complete fire protection network is not easy, individual devices that make up the system are not complicated. Top commercial fire alarm system companies work closely with local authorities to craft commercial fire alarm systems that not only protects lives and properties but also meets building code requirements.
In this post, we will take you through the various aspects of common fire life-saving devices so that you will understand how you can boost the safety of your organization and employees.
Fire alarm installation in commercial buildings is typically associated by the common person as a fire warning system. However, the net is wider than simply that, since it is designed to counter other life-threatening hazards that threated property too. These include leaky pipes and carbon monoxide poisoning apart from the regular fire hazards.
There is no smoke without a fire so, smoke detectors are often the first warning bells you will get of a fire. Its main function is to detect and alert occupants of the presence of smoke in the building.
Photoelectric sensors are built into smoke detectors that are triggered when smoke particles cross rays of light. These detectors are small and can be easily installed in limited spaces or larger areas for maximum protection.
The number of smoke detectors to be installed and their location are governed by building codes and location. Contact a well-known commercial fire alarm monitoring company to learn more about how to safeguard your premises from fire hazards and install smoke detectors.
Whenever fuel is not completely burned, carbon monoxide is released. That makes premises of any business with a water heater at potential risk to CO poisoning. As in smoke detectors, CO detectors too use sensors that send signals to a commercial fire alarm system whenever carbon monoxide is detected. CO detectors are essential add-ons to your fire alarm system and are not to be taken lightly as more than 14,000 people are brought to emergency rooms each year from CO poisoning.
Even though not as common as smoke detectors, it is an integral component of a commercial fire alarm system installation. Used in areas with high levels of dust and steam such as a kitchen, these sensors can detect rapid temperature changes. They can also be adjusted at a minimum threshold of heat (for example 135 degrees F) and a signal will be sent or an alarm activated at temperatures above this limit.
The one device that most people are familiar with when it comes to commercial fire alarm systems is hand-pull stations. These are easily recognizable devices that replicate the function as the name suggests. In the case of a fire, all that an occupant has to do to inform others of imminent danger is to pull the handle down on the device. It sends an alarm signal to the fire panel, thus activating the audio alarm devices like horns and sirens.
The benefit here over smoke detectors is that hand-pull stations can be activated within a few seconds of an emergency with one tug thus ensuring fast response and evacuation. Smoke detectors are not as fast to trigger alarms as it takes some time for the smoke to reach the detectors.
Hand-pull systems are available in various shapes and sizes in typical black boxes and covers. A commercial fire alarm monitoring company will know precisely where to install these devices in a building for maximum precaution.
It is very critical that commercial fire alarm systems operate under all conditions, even during a power outage. They typically draw power from a building’s electrical systems but should have a built-in redundancy should there be a power outage in an emergency. This backup source constitutes batteries and generators to maintain continuity if the main source of power fails.
Having this redundancy is not the discretion of fire alarm systems installers in commercial buildings. It is necessary for compliance with regulations like NFPA 72 which lays down the ground rules for continuous system operation so that timely alerts may be provided during an emergency.
Notification and communication systems are very important in commercial fire alarm system installation. These are devices that alert occupants of a fire and are typically placed throughout a building. These can be activated either by the FACP or manual pull stations and connect directly with the local fire department or a commercial fire alarm monitoring company. These devices provide accurate information about the location of the building and the type of fire, ensuring quick and precise action from responders.
Comprehensive commercial fire alarm systems constitute several devices to quickly detect fires and other emergencies. However, their true value lies in how quickly they can notify every occupant of the imminent danger. In this regard, the most optimized fire protection hardware is horns and strobes, a mix of audio and visual clues about a fire.
Horns and strobes are devices that are installed throughout a building, activating as soon as a fire panel detects an incident from anywhere in the network. Hoens are the audio portion of the system and their primary function is to alert occupants of an emergency in the vicinity. Strobes are visual clues that flash intermittently in bursts to inform occupants that an alarm has gone off and necessary action must be taken.
In most commercial fire alarm systems, horns and strobes are used in tandem to audibly and visually alert occupants of a fire incident. However, in many cases, horns and strobes are used as standalone entities for effective protection. These are installed by commercial fire alarm system companies in a way that all occupants in a building can see and hear them. This increases the possibility of everyone in a building being notified immediately in the event of a fire, potentially saving a lot of lives.
Businesses are required to mandatorily carry out fire and evacuation drills and horns and strobes play a crucial part here. However, on the flip side, it often creates “alarm fatigue”, dulling the urgency that should be associated with such drills. Moreover, blaring horns in a commercial building can be chaotic with people running around not way which direction to take for safe evacuation.
A voice evacuation system is an answer to all these problems and is an extension of horns and strobes typically used in commercial fire alarm systems. Voice-based systems send out pre-recorded messages to all corners of a building to guide occupants through quick evacuation through clear and articulate messages.
These systems are very flexible and versatile as the voice recordings can be customized for various life safety situations such as fires, severe weather, gas leaks, and more. Clear and unequivocal instructions from a voice evacuation system leads to organized evacuation and a reduced risk of death or injury to occupants.
What gives a voice evacuation system an edge over horns and strobes that act the same whatever be the situation is the capability to broadcast specific messages and directions as per need. This system works so well that some states like Michigan has made this system installation compulsory in educational and high-rise facilities as well as high-occupancy assembly areas.
It is expected that over time, voice evacuation systems will replace horns and strobes as the first line of emergency warning as their technology improves and code compliance changes.
Voice evacuation has not entered mainstream commercial fire alarm system installation in a big way but because of its benefits, businesses are upgrading to it in a big way. Moreover, in some businesses, it is required by law to use voice evacuation in their facilities. Here are some benefits of using voice evacuation systems.
On the other hand, voice evacuation recordings in commercial fire alarm systems can be commandeered by security personnel to guide people towards safety with appropriate instructions.
One thing is amply clear and that is voice evacuation systems are here to stay and are an integral part of commercial fire alarm systems.
While you might be a DIY person and can do many things yourself, commercial fire alarm system installation must not be one of them. It is a complex activity and requires a specialized skill set. Moreover, there are certifications required for code compliance that only professional contractors and installers of commercial fire alarm and monitoring companies have.
Further, below-par fire alarm installation can have an adverse impact on the functioning of any business. False alarms leading to unnecessary evacuations and wasted resources are some of the possibilities. To prevent false alarms, it is essential to hire reputed fire alarm installation commercial building contractors and not treat this life-saving task as a DIY activity.
Commercial fire alarm systems are essential in business premises and require regular maintenance and testing to be at peak performance mode. Periodical testing and inspection of systems not only meet NFPA 72 requirements but also make sure that safety standards are met where occupants of a building can quickly respond in the event of a fire.
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