Fire Alarm Monitoring

How Often Should Your Fire Alarm System Be Inspected?

In any place of business, ensuring the safety of your employees and customers is of paramount importance. Functioning and well-maintained fire alarm systems are vital and will help provide peace of mind to everyone in the building.

Regular inspections should be arranged to ensure that standards are kept, allowing you to continue your business uninterrupted.

How Often Should Your Fire Alarm System Be Inspected?

A minimum 2 inspections are required- Annual and semi annual inspections as laid out below.

According to Florida Statutes and National Fire Alarm codes, commercial buildings should have their fire alarm system inspected once a year at a minimum. It’s essential to hire an authorized and professional fire alarm company to conduct extensive and proper inspections.

An inspection also differs from testing, with testing requiring a certain amount of downtime to ensure that the fire alarm system is functioning correctly. Instead, an inspection focuses more on visually inspecting for issues such as leaking or surface damage.

According to the National Fire Protection Standards published by the National Fire Protection Association, here are some guidelines:

Quarterly Inspections: Carry out visual inspections of your equipment to ensure that it is all in prime operating condition. Also check for any physical damage that could affect your alarms.

Semi-Annual Inspections: Every 6 months, do more extensive tests on your fire protection systems. This should include visual, physical, and mechanical tests and inspections of all your fire protection systems, not just the alarms.

Annual Inspections: At least once a year, you need to do a complete inspection of the entire fire protection system. This includes checking smoke and heat detectors, annunciators, batteries, output relays and activations, and all switches. This inspection is about more than just making sure your alarms have flashing lights and working sound.

Unless you have a sprinkler system as part of your fire alarm system, you aren’t required to do quarterly inspections. However, you are required to complete both semi-annual and annual inspections no matter what kind of fire alarm system you have in place.

Those with sprinkler systems will be required and expected to do quarterly, semi-annual, and annual inspections.

More About Fire Alarm System Inspection

The last thing a business owner needs is for a fire to break out without the necessary measures in place. With a working fire alarm system that complies with both state and local codes, you will have less to worry about.

If and when you do have to file an insurance claim, having proper documentation of regular tests and inspections can reduce the chances of your claim being denied. However, most insurance companies won’t consider your own, in-house inspections sufficient.

This is where you will need the help of a licensed and certified fire alarm company that will inspect and test your fire alarm system. These inspectors can be trained professionals certified by system manufacturers, recognized by national organizations, affiliated with registered organizations, or an employee of a testing laboratory.

Inspection List

With their knowledge and expertise, licensed and certified fire alarm companies will help ensure all the necessary systems and components are functioning. This can include:

Smoke and heat detectors
Manual pull stations
Notification appliances
Carbon monoxide detectors
Communication equipment

Inspectors will also check on the power supply and transponders of the control panel, with the right readings being displayed. The signals used for emergencies also have to line up.

Depending on the needs of the business or building, there may be more tasks involved in the overall inspection.

Understanding Maintenance

If a problem is detected, what can you expect moving forward? For starters, devices that have been in use for a prolonged period might need a replacement.

Common factors like humidity, corrosion, changes in temperature, and even voltage fluctuations can affect your fire alarm systems as well, so a certain degree of damage is to be expected. In addition, damaged components will have to be replaced to ensure everything is working correctly.

In most cases, having regular inspections and testing will help you stay on top of any issues. Knowing when to replace your fire alarm system or carry out repairs and maintenance will help you get the most out of them while staying safe.

Conclusion

There is simply no room for error when it comes to fire alarm systems. Constant testing and inspections will keep you on the safe side, and ensure that everyone is alerted in the case of an emergency. Be sure to hire experts to keep everything in order-that is a small price to pay compared to the unimaginable damage of a disaster not detected properly.

How Do You Determine a Fire Alarm Zone?

Fire alarm zones are classified zones made by dividing different areas or spaces within a building into their own separate sections. Devices are then added to those spaces as part of a fire alarm system. The number and type of devices used in each zone depends on the characteristics of the zone itself. Each panel has a different set of tasks they can carry out, which will vary according to what they can do in their own areas.

Determining a fire zone area will alert firefighters to where they need to go in order to distinguish the fire and keep the building safe.

How Do You Determine a Fire Alarm Zone?

More often than not, there will not be enough time to guess where the fire is coming from. However, firefighters do need to know immediately where the source of the fire is so they can go straight to it without any complications.

Fire alarm zones help direct the firefighters to the path of the fire without wasting time trying to figure out where the fire is located themselves. This helps to stop the spread of the fire and saves a lot of time, which prevents injuries or property damage from occurring.

Most fire alarms that are used today have points where you will install either conventional fire panels or addressable fire panels. Many businesses use addressable fire panels instead of conventional fire panels. This is because addressable fire panels have different points that will detect and alert you to smoke or fire.

Conventional fire panels are mostly used in small buildings while addressable fire panels cover a bigger range by giving every smoke detector or sprinkler their own identifiable address to let you know which device is going off.

The zones that these fire panels are implemented into fall under different classifications depending how much space they cover or by the building’s fire control separations.

When a fire alarm system is wired correctly into the spaces they need to be in, they will be able to display which areas of the building need attention. The firefighters will then be able to go to the correct zone of the building to handle the situation.

Conclusion

Make sure that your fire alarm systems have the necessary panels integrated into different fire alarm zones so that they can do their job of protecting your building and its occupants.

At ACS Fire and Security, you can trust us to handle your fire alarm monitoring in Orlando. We have designed, installed and maintained custom fire alarm systems for various types of businesses. As the experts, we know what your business needs and we’ll make sure your fire alarm system meets all the requirements for today’s businesses.

Advantages of Cellular Over Traditional Phone Lines in Fire Alarm Systems

Today, it’s more common for cellular devices to be used as a phone system for most businesses. As a result, traditional phone lines are becoming a thing of the past. Fire alarm systems have been using traditional landlines for communication purposes for generations, but many traditional phone systems are going through big changes to adjust to a more modern era of technology.

There are many advantages of switching from traditional phone lines to cellular phone lines for fire alarm systems. Here are some you should be aware of:

Advantages of Cellular Over Traditional Phone Lines in Fire Alarm Systems

No Wires

Cutting wires was a commonly used method of compromising the integrity of an alarm system. The system could shut down or the traditional phone line could cease communication due to the wires being cut.

With a cellular phone connection, it will be much more difficult to mess with the alarm and you will be alerted successfully in the case of an emergency. Many modern day cellular systems will protect your phone from getting jammed by integrating anti-jamming hardware.

Reliability

Modern cellular systems are turning out to be much more reliable than traditional phone lines for fire alarm systems.

You will not have to worry about power or internet outages or compromised phone lines when you switch to a cellular system. A cellular system will provide you with uninterrupted protection around the clock.

On the other hand, landline cables are vulnerable to outside environments such as weather, intruders, or even animals damaging them. Cellular systems will be unaffected by internet outages, and they have the ability to remain strong, even through most natural disasters or storms. You can rely on cellular phone lines to contact emergency services whenever you need to.

Safety

Landline telephone systems have so many ways to become easily compromised that it is just safer to replace with a cellular system. Even with a compartment that is meant to contain your phone lines protecting it, it can still be opened with a simple screwdriver. The wires can be cut, rendering your landline system no longer operational.

Having the wires cut means that there will be no distress signal sent to your monitoring station in cases of emergencies. In order to prevent your fire alarm system from being damaged and rendered useless, it is best to just have a cellular system integrated in the first place.

Cellular systems cannot be as easily compromised as landline systems can. They use the same network of cellular towers that your own cell phone uses; you will still be able to connect with a monitoring station in an emergency, even when the phone service connection is weak.

Many cellular systems even have anti-hacking technology integrated into their systems to prevent hackers from compromising their security systems as an extra safety measure.

Conclusion

Instead of allowing your fire alarm system to become compromised and leaving it exposed to vulnerabilities, enhance your fire alarm system’s security by having a cellular system in place.

What is a Class A Fire Alarm System?

There are several different classifications for fires, based on how they start. This classification was coined by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), whose purpose was to pinpoint the best types of fire alarm systems for early warnings.

Class A Fire alarm systems are beneficial because they will continue to work and alert residents to fire, even when the integrity of the fire alarm is compromised during fire emergencies. The fire system will alert you to any immediate danger.

Common Class A fires tend to happen more regularly than you would think, so it is always good to be prepared. Read on to understand more about Class A Fires and Class A fire alarm systems.

What is a Class A Fire Alarm System?

Class A fires are fires that occur from combustible materials such as wood, clothing, fabric, etc. In a Class A fire, the usual source is paper, plastic, trash, wood or even fabric arising from an accidental industrial incident. Trash fire is a common scenario.

They are one of the most common types of fires and can normally be put out with water or dry chemical fire extinguishers such as monoammonium phosphate.

A Class A fire alarm system is a reliable and excellent component of fire safety, thanks to their installation method. They are installed in separate conduits, with a minimum of 4 feet of space between horizontal conductors. As for vertical conductors, there is a minimum of 1 foot of space in between.

Class A fire alarm systems provide excellent fire safety for your building that can help save the lives of the occupants in the building with its quick and accurate emergency alert system.

Even small and common fires should be handled with great precaution, and you should always have the proper fire extinguishers ready to go in order to prevent the fire from spreading further.

Our Fire Alarm Systems

Here at ACS Fire and Safety, we provide a variety of fire alarm systems all aimed at keeping your commercial property and its occupants safe. Instead of one size fits all solutions, our systems are custom designed to integrate into your facility.

From large manufacturing warehouses to factors or even small offices, we have designed and integrated fire alarm systems for various commercial settings.

It is our priority to ensure that your fire alarm system will pass inspections while being code compliant.

Conclusion

Do not wait until an emergency happens to start taking measures. Now that you are aware of the capabilities of class A fire alarm systems, you can work towards providing the necessary protection to keep your building and its occupants safe.

For fire alarm monitoring Orlando services, contact us to see how we can help you.

When Is Fire Alarm Monitoring Required?

If you are already aware of how fire alarm monitoring works and how it protects your commercial property and its occupants, then you are on the right track. The next important step is to know when fire alarm monitoring is required.

Fire alarm monitoring is an essential part of a comprehensive fire alarm system that will alert you of any fire-related emergencies. This will help evacuate everyone inside of the building until the fire-related situation is resolved.

When Is Fire Alarm Monitoring Required?

Occupancy Classification

There are many conditions which make fire alarm monitoring a requirement. One of the most critical conditions is the occupancy classification of the building you are setting the system up for.

This will usually depend on the jurisdiction of your local authority and will likely be different for each building. Different occupancy classifications will require different fire alarm monitoring methods, so it is always best to go ahead and determine which kind you will need based on that information. Many of the main requirements that are based on occupancy classification can be found in NFPA 101.

Protection from Property Damage and Keeping Occupants Safe

Having a reliable fire alarm monitoring system set in place for your building will help protect the occupants from getting hurt. It will protect your commercial building from property damage resulting from fire emergencies with the detection of trace amounts of smoke.

In fact, these are some of the most crucial reasons to have a fire alarm system set up in your building in the first place. Fire prevention and protection for the building makes for a safe environment and a fast response time from the proper authorities.

Protection from property damage will keep the building standing strong and reduce the chance of future emergencies from occurring.

It will also be beneficial to train the occupants of the building on how to monitor and operate a professionally installed fire alarm system in order to ensure that they can prepare themselves in case of emergencies. They should know all of the escape routes from the building when the alarm detects smoke in the air and take those routes to safety.

With around-the-clock protection from your fire alarm system and proper instructions given to other occupants in the building, everyone will be safe and the fire department will be contacted as soon as possible.

Conclusion

You need fire alarm monitoring Orlando to keep your building under a 24-hour watch for fire related emergencies. The fire alarm will let everyone know that they need to evacuate to avoid danger from smoke and fire while you and the proper authorities will be notified almost instantly. The faster the Fire Department can get to your property, the lesser damage there will be to your building.

Since you can’t be present all the time, you can have peace of mind knowing that your property and its occupants will be safe with fire alarm monitoring.