Here in Chicago, the fire alarm panel gets mounted inside the building, within 25' of the door that the fire brigade will enter.
That always causes whining from the Architects who want the Lobby to be perfectly gorgeous, but the fire brigade ALWAYS has the last word.
After all, how happy would you be if you died in a fire in a pretty building? I'd rather get found in time to be rescued inside a building with "one of those ugly red boxes in the Lobby".
If the fire brigade's not happy with the building, they won't sign off on the Certificate of Occupancy...and NOBODY can be inside the building.
Period.
End of sentence.
Ya gotta love anyone who runs into a burning building when everyone else is running out of it.
