Fire alarms systems are expected to help keep people, home, and assets safe. But you can’t tell if they’re completely functioning just by staring at them. As with any other system, electronics and other mechanism can degrade over time and compromise the system’s operation. Dust, dirt, and other contaminants can cause issues with smoke detectors.
Things like improper maintenance, vandalism, and remodelling. Procedures can also damage fire protection tools. The good news is that with appropriate maintenance, testing, and fire alarm inspection, you can maintain your fire alarm system at best operating performance. Additionally; ensuring top performance, maintains your system in good condition and trims down expenses by avoiding costly false alarms, unbudgeted emergency and maintenance.
Knowing the system’s age and maintenance accounts helps you decide the steps you have to take to keep its operational readiness. Systems under five years old should entail minimum effort to maintain.
In new systems, issues are frequently due to incorrect set up like improper grounding or environmental issues like voltage transients. Periodic system testing and inspection by capable specialists can identify many such problems.
Systems around five and ten years old may experience component breakdown caused by unforgiving, but normal, environmental causes. Voltage fluctuations, temperature, and humidity may cause system malfunction or annoying alarm problems.
Systems around ten and fifteen years old may still offer appropriate life-safety response. On the other hand, systems in this class require close attention, even with appropriate safeguarding procedures in place. If the system has had a history of poor maintenance or none at all, it’s probable that malfunction of components and inappropriate monitoring of system components will happen.
Systems similar to 20 years of age may be outside their technological life expectation. The system may continue to work acceptably if accurately maintained, but you need testing and examination by trained experts to guarantee proper system response will take place in an emergency.
The fire alarm inspection can be summed up in five steps.
These steps seem straightforward enough, given you have the awareness. On the other hand, that awareness is of no use if you don’t pay total attention to detail. Experience shows that repairs technicians under pressure to keep production equipment running often ignore significant details since “nothing is broken.”
Most system manufacturers suggest no less than one full annual inspection after preliminary installation and approval. A variety of organizations, mandates, agencies, and local authorities recommends, and in some cases, testing periods. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) offers the National Fire Alarm Code, NFPA 72. This standard deals with the performance, installation, application, and maintenance of protective signalling systems and its functions. Chapter 7 is dedicated to maintenance, testing and inspection. A table included in the article is quite a few pages long and includes batteries, interface equipment, generators, and other features of alarm systems and fire detection.
The local authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) and insurance companies also influence, propose, or set forth standards they deem needed for the appropriate operation of life-safety systems.
In almost all cases, the standards outline specific requirements. The possible problem is that not every fire alarm systems are subject to the same environmental and ambient conditions. As a result, meeting minimum standards of every relevant standards and codes may not provide the optimum security. Because of this, manufacturers’ service organizations may advise inspections and maintenance that go beyond published standards
System maintenance as well system age, you must think about budget and staffing funds. Do your staffs have the time and know-how to appropriately maintain this vital life-safety system? Will it be further more cost-effective to have the manufacturer’s service organization or a contractor focused in fire alarms performs the maintenance?
The most rigorous standards and guidelines are worthless unless the people performing the maintenance, testing, and inspection are qualified and knowledgeable to do the fire alarm inspection.
Facility maintenance staff don’t have the knowledge and experience found in manufacturer’s fire alarm inspection technicians, who’s every day work rotate around fire alarm system equipment in an assortment of circumstances and settings. Some services have answered this issue by sending their employees to factory-sponsored training courses. This strategy works, if done in progress.
You can streamline the fire alarm inspection process through a factory service agreement. These can vary from a basic on-call agreement to frequently scheduled service visits. Emergency service offering four-hour and eight-hour reaction times, on a daily basis, are an option accessible in most service accord.
This service typically provides response within the specific time, along with replacement and restoration of equipment. Quick emergency response is almost widespread for the lodging and healthcare industries because of continuous occupancy by guests, patients, and staff.
