Design to the Fire Alarm Code, NFPA 72-2010 - a PDH Online Course for Engineers, Land Surveyors and Architects

Design to the Fire Alarm Code, NFPA 72-2010

Course Outline

This three hour online course discusses the concepts, equipment selection and graphic representation of typical life-safety fire alarm systems for offices, stores, churches, apartment houses, schools, institutions and factories, except high-hazard. The key principles are the basic guidelines of the Fire Alarm Code (NFPA 72-2010) for normal applications and some warning in cases that require special attention. New material since the 2007 Code is incorporated, and, in some cases, highlighted. This course does not replace a NICET certificate or a PE license. The course does not address residential fire alarms.

The course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.

Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of this course, the student will:

Understand the different responsibilities of the Architect and the fire alarm designer;
Recognize the standard abbreviations, symbols and terminology used with fire alarms;
Be familiar with plan drawing representation, graphic riser diagrams and specification of systems;
Be able to research NFPA 72 and contact proper local authorities to answer specific questions involved in fire alarm system design;
Understand the differences between hard-wired and addressable systems;
Understand the importance of supervised operation of initiating devices, notification devices, supervisory devices and annunciation devices;
Understand the benefits and hazards of integrating building automation and other systems with fire alarm functions;
Understand the present and expected requirements of a smoke control system;
Understand the available features of pull stations, including single-action, double-action, alarming covers and locked units;
Understand the available features of smoke detectors, including analog, ionization, photoelectric, smoke signature, beam, radiation, duct detectors and test/reset stations;
Understand the available features of heat detectors, including analog, fixed temperature, rate of rise and test aids;
Recognize the names and basic principles associated with specialized detectors, such as beam detectors and UV sensors;
Recognize the differences among multi-sensor, multi-criteria and combination detectors;
Understand the relationship between the sprinkler system and the fire alarm;
Know the rules for locations of pull stations and detectors;
Understand the features of notification devices including voice, audible, and visual;
Know the rules for locations and types of notification devices, including the new 520Hz horns;
Know the rules for interconnection between individual room smoke alarms and general building evacuation systems;
Know the rules for combined use of voice notification and general public address; Know the requirements for installation of the fire alarm control unit (formerly fire alarm control panel) and remote annunciator(s);
Know the rules for central monitoring;
Be able to review a fire alarm design for obvious and subtle errors; and
Recognize major suppliers (from their web sites in the reference list).

Intended Audience

This course is intended for professional engineers, architects and contractors. It will also be of value to persons with technical background who wish to extend their knowledge into new realms. It does not replace a NICET certificate or a PE license. Some topics are presented only in brief reference. Correct technical terms are used so that an internet search will produces many sources for further information.

Benefit to Attendees

Fire alarm systems are life-safety systems. It is of critical importance that the building owner, the lead design persons, the detailed design persons, the suppliers, the installers and maintenance persons know the right way to do the job. Everyone involved need not be an expert but everyone must know the basic rules. A person who studies this material closely will be able to competently review a proposed fire alarm design. He will be able to create a reasonable scheme to be detailed into a complete fire alarm design. Further work by the detail designer will be required to perform the required battery sizing, voltage drop calculations, circuit loadings and select particular device part numbers. These tasks are not addressed in this course.

Course Introduction

Fire alarms save people's lives. They are required by State building Codes in almost all facilities. Design of fire alarm systems is done by installing contractors, vendors, NICET technicians and Professional Engineers. This three hour online course discusses the rules for design and graphic representation of typical commercial fire alarm systems. Key principles are required devices, required locations of devices and requirements for wiring of devices. This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.

Fire alarm systems are intended to notify persons on-site to evacuate. Early identification of fire situations and notification aids in complete evacuation and early arrival of fire fighting equipment aids greatly in reducing property losses.
The Code includes fire alarm systems intended for property protection, which may not include notification devices. The same rules for detector spacing apply, however. There are special rules for jails, hospitals and nursing homes where evacuation is not appropriate. These special cases are mentioned but not addressed in detail in this course.

The field of study of Fire Science has advanced remarkably in the last 100 years. Today we know many different ways that fires start and spread. This course stops at this step to apply the knowledge to fire alarm sensing devices, but the field of fire science also contributes to building standards, fire suppression design and fire fighting equipment and techniques. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has become a key tool in research on smoke characteristics - as most deaths result from the smoke, not the fire.

This course will spend considerable time discussing available smoke and heat detectors. First, however, we will look at the overall system and features of each component that are necessary to provide reliable notification after the detector does its job.

We will spend some time on stand-alone smoke alarms, small hard-wired systems, and interconnection between stand-alone residential alarms and building evacuation fire alarms. Our main focus, however, will be large systems, with schools used in many examples. The principles directly apply to offices, stores, factories, institutions, apartments and multi-family dwellings. Exceptions associated with different occupancies will be noted.

Of special interest are the interconnection between the fire alarm system and the sprinkler system, between the fire alarm system and the elevator and between the fire alarm system and the HVAC system. Underlying concepts and examples will be presented.

A special rule which is not well understood is that ANY fire alarm must comply with NFPA 72. You CANNOT hook up a smoke detector to a plant SCADA system. If you want fire alarm notification, you must use UL-approved devices THROUGHOUT the system. A SCADA system is NOT a UL-approved life-safety system. People keep trying to convince themselves that property protection does not require an NFPA system. Wrong! The law says it does.

Course Content

In this lesson, you are required to download and study the following course content:

Design to the Fire Alarm Code, NFPA 72-2010

New York (City) School Construction Authority Specification 16720 (Annotated)

Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you still experience any difficulty in downloading or opening this file, you may need to close some applications or reboot your computer to free up some memory.

You may need to download Acrobat Reader to view and print the document.

Course Summary

This course is intended as a guide and aid in using the National Fire Alarm Code, NFPA 72-2010. The concepts and rules-of-thumb are adequate for preliminary design and cost estimates but not adequate for construction documents without detailed study of the relevant sections of the source Code and review by an experienced fire alarm designer. Questions of interpretation should be addressed to the local Authority Having Jurisdiction. It is almost certain that a question during design will also come up during Plans Review. The right answer is the answer of the Authority Having Jurisdiction. Early consultation can save a lot of money over having the same question addressed as a Change Order during construction.

Related Links and References

For additional technical information related to this subject, please visit the following websites or web pages:

http://www.firelite.com/products.html
Fire-Lite (Honeywell) Fire Alarm Control Panels
http://www.notifier.com/products.htm
Notifier (Honeywell) Fire Alarm Products
http://www.interstatepublishing.com/
local codes
http://www.silentknight.com/htmfiles/product.htm
Silent Knight(Honeywell) Fire Alarm Products
http://www.nicet.com/
NICET (NSPE Technician Level) Certification
http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a1/010319falsealarm/
Fire Alarms in Space
http://www.ul.com/alarmsystems/basics.html
Underwriters Laboratories Inc Fire Alarm Systems Training
http://www.buildingtechnologies.siemens.com
Siemens Fire Alarm System Products
http://www.simplexgrinnell.com/Solutions/FireDetectionAndAlarm/Pages/fire-detection-fire-alarm-simplexgrinnell.aspx
Simplex-Grinnell (Tyco International) Fire Alarm Products
http://irc.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/cbd/cbd233e.html
Canadian Introduction to Fire Alarms
http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pubs_pol/hrpubs/tbm_119/chap3_4_e.asp
Online Canadian Fire Alarm Code
http://www.forgotten-ny.com/STREET%20SCENES/Fire%20Alarms%20page/Alarms.html
Street Corner Pull Stations in New York City
http://www.sfmuseum.net/conflag/falarm.html
Fire Alarms in the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0827382936/102-2841288-9520135?v=glance
Amazon Books on Design of Fire Alarm Systems
http://www.ul.com/alarmsystems/fire.html
Underwriters Laboratories Inc Fire Alarm System Certification
http://facilities.princeton.edu/customer/firealarm.htm
Princeton University Procedures for Fire Alarms
http://schools.nyc.gov/Offices/SCA/DoingBusiness/ae/BulkDownloads/default.htm
New York City School Construction Administration specifications

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.