Frequently Asked Questions:Fire Alarm System

A fire alarm system consists of interconnected electronic components designed to identify changes in the environment, notify occupants and emergency personnel, and assist in fire suppression efforts to safeguard lives. A properly designed fire alarm system integrates both passive and active fire detection and suppression mechanisms to ensure effective life-saving measures.

First and foremost, the fire alarm control panel acts as the brain of the fire alarm system. All of the alerts will manifest within this control center including any indication of a fire or life-threatening environmental change, and any possibility of a problem with the system itself that could prevent it from working properly during an emergency. Fire alarm systems begin each job with an initiation device. These initiation devices - like smoke detectors or fire pulls - monitor a specific protected area. When the presence of a fire is detected, they send a signal to the fire alarm control panel which can either trigger a supervisory alert (telling someone to investigate the issue) or an alarm. Commercial fire alarms have the ability to target specific areas or zones and work to prevent a fire from spreading while simultaneously working to suppress it. A commercial fire alarm system has two sources of power - a primary source and a secondary source. The primary power source is provided by the building's electric utility, a generator, or a power storage system. The secondary power source comes from batteries, a secondary generator, or a secondary power storage system. In the event of failure of the primary power source, the secondary power source will kick in and ensure that the fire alarm system continues working.

A: There are two main types of fire alarm panels: conventional panels and addressable panels.
Conventional Fire Alarm:Conventional fire alarms are installed in zones and work by detecting changes in electrical currents. Once a device detects a change in the atmosphere, the electrical current of the device changes and the fire alarm control panel then detects this change and sounds an alarm. Conventional fire alarms are effective but they alert to broader areas rather than pinpointing a specific location.
Addressable Fire Alarm: Addressable fire alarms utilize the latest technology to be programmed to monitor very specific areas, for example, a certain stairwell or a specific room. Each connected device in an addressable fire alarm system has its own address which makes it fast and simple to determine where the signal is coming from. Once a change in the atmosphere is detected, the device alerts the fire control panel which is able to show exactly where the location of concern is.

Fire Alarm System is a technology that links smoke detectors, heat detectors and other accessories together using radio frequency waves without using any wires. Wireless Fire Alarm thus eliminates the use of expensive fire rated cables.

According to the British Standard, fire alarms should be checked by a ‘responsible person’ within your organisation on at least a weekly basis. This is to ensure that the alarms are working correctly and no faults have occurred which could jeopardise an evacuation in the event of an emergency.The results of these weekly tests should be officially logged in a fire log book so they can be referred back to if necessary.