I'm quoting the installtion of an alarm system in an existing school and I've never done this type of work before. Lots of horns, strobes and detectors. Any tips for the first timer?

Joe

All equipment is National Time and Signal

[This message has been edited by jkraft (edited 09-01-2005).]

Two questions. Is it fire alarm, or burglar alarm?. Second question, is you state you are a first timer, does that mean in the first timer in the electrical field, In which case I am all done here, or are you a first timer in alarms?

Ha Ha, first time on an alarm job this big. I started in the electrical field in 1973. It's fire alarm stuff.

The biggest problem I see on existing fire jobs is that the paperwork was not kept up in the beginning, make sure to mark up all your prints with cable routes, splice points and detector addresses if using an addressable system. At the end of the job make a nice copy and leave it on site, it saves a lot of headaches further down the road. Fire work can be very simple if you take it one piece and one circuit at a time, when in doubt, rtfm.

I'd like to offer some advice: I looked into doing some security work in a job that was large enough the the system would be inspected.

I found out that there are requirements in Va. that one has to apply to the Justice Dept. or somesuch, with a non-refundable $600 app. fee.

The job slipped along faster than I could motivate myself to delve deeper into the quagmire. But check in your locality.

Just a note, check to make sure you have the proper insurance coverage for alarm work, and, don't forget to get the NFPA book set before bidding on the job, sure saves a lot of problems down the road.

Make sure the drawings jive with what the fire marshall wants. I see this alot on the commercial jobs I work on . The contract drawings are way different from the FM approved drawings. I just finished a fire alarm / security job. The approved fire alarm drawings had at least 25 LESS smoke detectors and 20 more strobes. I don't even start the fire alarm until I am handed a set of approved drawings. Which , by the way , in Maryland you must have a clean un marked on, signed by the Fire marshall,set of fire alarm drawings on site at all times.

As the EC I'm running pipe and wire and connecting all the remote devices. The equipment supplier, National Time and Signal, is installing the control panel programming the system, and getting all the approvals from the state (MI).

Like luckyshadow points out,make sure that the Fire Marshall is happy. I do most of my work in Virginia, but do some work in Maryland and DC. Be careful when working off drawings that have not been approved. An electrical engineer does not need a NICET certification for electrical permit drawings (if I am not mistaken), however what you send for approval to Fire and Rescue does require a NICET Level 5 just to be seen.

The drawings WILL CHANGE! A/V's will move and change candella ratings. Initiation devices will be added/deleted. If conduit is not specified for the entire system you might want to look at pulling FPL, FPLP, or FAMC instead of hard pipe, as this gives you the flexibility to easily set a box if something has to move, and cutting in an old work in the wall for changes.

Also, try to find the class of wiring that you need. If you are doing a Class A system, you can not t-tap and you have to pull a complete loop from the FACP back to the FACP. If it is a class B system you have more room for error with the initiating loop. You only have one home run, and not two. Make sure that the signal loop is in series! If not, it will not work. Data (depending on class can be in parallel), but signal must be in series.

As my last little bit, what is it going to cost you to install the system and what will it cost to sub it out? There is a fine line there. If you have green help pull the cable and they do it correctly what will it cost for the device install and programming? If you have green help pull and they F-up, what will it cost to troubleshoot and repair? Good luck!

I would try and never "T" tap in a fire alarm system. Too much room for error, I always pull my fire alarms with out splices.
May take a little longer but it saves in not having bad splices. Only place you can have a ground fault is at the devices. I always mark my wires in such a way that I can tell if it's an "in" or an "out", Then I mark up my drawings that show how the wire is ran, marking the devices with numbers or letters in order. If you have end of line resistors in the field make sure to mark their location. I will take a sharpie and write eol on the device that contains the resistor. Its all about making it easy to install AND trouble shoot. I will have all my devices installed , and the wiring rang out and any shorts corrected before I have the Fire Alarm tech come out to start his part.If you mark the drawings with the way the wire is pulled trouble shooting becomes a Breeze.
Another good point is try and have your fire alarm company come out and go over what they want and could suggest. Like a consultation. Try and have your questions ready to "pick" their brain. The first system I ever did in my life , I went in totally "blind" without a clue. I had the tech come out to the site and go over things and I had a written list of questions for him. He gave me a wealth of knowledge on the system. They get easier the more you do.

edited to add the last paragraph

[This message has been edited by luckyshadow (edited 09-02-2005).]

jkraft,

As you look at the prints for this job, check to see who is responsable for firestopping. It might sound like a small thing, but if you are working in a school, most of the holes made through walls might have to be firestopped to prevent spread of fire. The tubes of "approved" firestopping caulk can be quite expensive. ( Or so I have heard) Also watch your approved drawings to make sure that the strobes and horns are in the correct spot. If in doubt, check with the construction dept., they should be willing to help you.

If you can, walk the job with a set of prints in hand, and check locations for sanity..
Check with the building occupants to see if there are any conflicts, especially if the space has any special uses.

We had the alarm guys come thru at Stanford, and wire our radio station.. However, there were some obvious spots where the designer didn't take certain things into account, such as:

The end of a hallway:
the strobe was located on the hinge side of a door, that in the open position would completely cover the strobe, and probably smash it in the process.. (the strobe was raised to clear the door)

next to front door:
the door is in a corner, with a wall parallel to the path, where the manual pull station was to be located, (surface mounted, sticking out 6" into the path, subject to physical damage). This was the main door into the radio station, and equipment was regularly moved thru that door. The light switches were located on the other side of the door, on a wall perpendicular to the path. (the pull station was relocated to above the light switches)

Upstairs in one of the theatres:

strobes located immediately adjacent to the proscenium, on walls that were regularly masked with scenery. (strobes were relocated further offstage.)

There seemed to be a recurring theme of mounting strobes next to doors, on the hinge side, and 4-6" below the top of the door, instead of on the latch side, or 4-6" above the top of the door.

Couple of comments techie.

Yeah the hinge side of a door is a bad choice, raising the horn strobe to clear the door is a usually violation of the height.

The visual devices need to be around 82" AFF I can not remember the exact measurement.

The pull stations need to be within 5' of the door, many times that ends up with some pretty ugly installations on door mullions.

I can only speak for this area but once I have stamped approved prints from the FD I can not move devices. They go where shown...insane or not.

I try to place my pull stations where I can have one hand on the door knob and the other hand on the pull station. As far as strobes I mount them 80" to the bottom NO higher. I will move them to the strike side of the door, I believe mounting them behind doors is a violation.

In this case, the door was at the intersection of two hallways, and they wanted the strobe to be visible from both directions, so they could not move it to the other side of the door. Reversing the swing of the door was not an option, nor was changing the door to open into the room, instead of out, both because of clearance issues.

It probably ended up slightly higher than it should have been, but the option was for it to be smashed the first time the door was opened to the stop, and even if it had survived, it would have been obscured about 80% of the time that the station was occupied. (this was a basement hallway, with conduits, piping, and ductwork overhead. no finished ceiling in the hallway.)

The pull station ended up immediately adjacent to the door, on the latch side, within 8" of the door, in a much better position.

We felt very strongly that it would have been a hazard where it was originally installed, because with all the band equipment that was carried in thru that door, somebody was going to rip their arm or their shoulder open.

Another thing that I almost forgot.. The designers need to take the activities in the building into account when specifying audible devices.

I remember an alarm test at another school, where the audible device was not instantly recognisable as a fire alarm.

I was up in the prop loft, about 10 feet from the device when it went off, and It sounded exactly like the table saw in the shop immediately downstairs. (Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh)

It wasn't until I climbed out of the loft, and saw the strobes that I realized that it was the fire alarm. If it had been pulsed, it would have been much more obvious.

NFPA 72 (National Fire Alarm Code) spells out locations for FA devices fairly well, if you can find them (and I usually can't). Per 7.5.4* “Appliance Location: Wall-mounted appliances shall be mounted such as that the entire lens is not less than 2.0 m (80 in.) and not greater than 2.4 m (96 in.) above the finished floor.” *Of course there are provisions for a ceiling lower than 80in. If mounted below 80" because of the ceiling height then the device, for lack of better words, must be derated (and not more than 6” below the ceiling). See Annex A 7.5.4. In a corridor, if mounted on a side wall (as opposed to wall mount over a door, or ceiling mount), the strobe must no more than 15' from the end of the corridor (yes I mean feet, not inches per 7.5.4.2.5)! If you can get a copy of the code, do it, as I have had the fire marshall tell me the strobe had to be 15' minimum, not max, from the end of the corridor and lost the battle because I didn't have my book with me.

Pull stations must be mounted between 3 ½' and 4 ½' per 5.12.4, and within 5' of the exit door on each floor per 5.12.6.