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Fire Alarms


In a typical year there are in excess of 90,000 recorded fires, resulting in the lives of 500 lives and countless injuries. Installing and maintaining fire detection and alarm systems is governed by strict regulation. Smart Living inspect, test and maintain fire alarm systems in accordance with manufacturers’ recommendations and British Standards BS 5839:2002.

WHY CARRY OUT FIRE ALARM MAINTENANCE?

All fire systems must be regularly tested and maintenance is essential to prolong the life of a system and discover any faults that may occur. A system that is not maintained cannot be guaranteed to protect life and property.

The Fire Safety Regulatory Reform Order, which came into effect on 1 October 2006 has consolidated requirements of existing fire regulations into one piece of legislation requiring a ‘responsible person or persons’ to implement a fire risk assessment of the premises.

Employers and educational officers are responsible for their own fire safety risk assessment and have to judge what fire precautions are necessary to protect their employees and students.

There are no longer specific requirements set out in a Fire Certificate to rely on. The only reliable and measurable means of ensuring that your existing fire detection and warning system remains compliant and fully functional is to instigate a plan of regular routine maintenance and testing carried out by a ‘competent’ person supplemented by weekly user tests.

BS5839-1:2002, as amended in 2004, recommends weekly user tests consisting of the operation of one manual call point ensuring that the alarm panel processes the fire signal and operates the alarm sounders, with a record of each test in the company’s log book. This should be combined, for Grade A systems, with periodic inspection and testing of the system by a ‘competent’ person based on a risk assessment. The recommended interval between these inspections should not exceed six months. The regulations recommend that during the periodic inspection, the following items are checked and recorded:-

  1. » The system log book should be examined to ensure that recorded faults have    been rectified

  2. » A visual inspection of the building structure and occupancy level should be    verified in order to ascertain compliance

  3. » The standby batteries should be disconnected, inspected and load tested

  4. » The output functions of the control panel should be verified via the operation of    one detection device per circuit

  5. » The operation of all sounders should be verified, sound pressure levels being    measured upon appointment of a new servicing organisation

  6. » All controls and visual indicators should be energised

  7. » Each automatic fire detector and manual call point should be tested over a 12    month period

  8. » Upon completion, a service certificate should be issued to the responsible    person

BENEFITS OF THE SERVICE

Whatever the size and complexity of the fire detection system – either networked or a standalone system – for small, large, single or multiple sites, Smart Living has the required expertise. We can design and implement a service and maintenance package in accordance with your requirements and relevant regulations. We are also happy to discuss arranging maintenance of existing installations.

Click below for our handy reference guides;

  • » More about Fixed Installation Testing
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  • » Fire Alarm law and you
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    Now read about Emergency Lighting, also required by the Fire Safety Regulatory Reform Order.