fire alarm system - any recomendations?

[David P]

I work in a large industrial unit that 15 people share the rent and rates on - each of us gets a workshop space and no-one makes a profit out of us.

Anyway, the other day we had an 'unexpected' visit from the local fire officer who couldn't quite get his head around the varied nature of businesses all operating under one roof (blacksmiths, jewelers, woodturners etc) - without anyone being 'in charge'. the upshot of his visit is that he is being quite stringent with the work he wants us to carry out to satisfy fire & H&S regs.

we have done most of the construction work and instigated several beurocratic systems that he required, have bought in all the appropriate extinguishers etc. and have even managed to 'Zone' the building into seperate activities and risks.
Now all that remains is to install a fire alarm system.
there seem to be two ways to go with this - get a contract from a fire specialist (very bloated and expensive) or do the installation ourselves.
we have all the appropriate skills between us, so that is the route we want to take.

So the point of my post:
Can anyone suggest a brand and/or supplier of a good multi-zone fire alarm system (with heat detectors rather than smoke detectors). preferably one that is relatively easy to fit.
as far as the technicalities of where the sensors, control board and alarms should be placed, we already have good advice.

anyone got any good tips or observations to do with installing fire alarm systems?

 

[flashbanger13]

Read BS 5839.

 

[breezer]

to be honest i think you would do better if you did get a company in to do it for you.

Get lots of quotes, not just several, try a specialist small fire alarm company

unlike intruder alarms that protect property, fire alarms protect life. property can be easily replaced, life can't

 

[David P]

Read BS 5839.

Thanks flashbanger13 - Yes we have read this - and zoned the building according to it - thats how I know we need a 5 zone system with at least 2 manual sounders and five alarm points.

question is where to get one.

 

[flashbanger13]

Your best bet is to go to a couple of electrical wholesalers and ask there advice on fire alarm products. Probably not going for the cheapest one is wise.

 

[David P]

to be honest i think you would do better if you did get a company in to do it for you.

Get lots of quotes, not just several, try a specialist small fire alarm company

unlike intruder alarms that protect property, fire alarms protect life. property can be easily replaced, life can't

Point taken Breezer - about life especially. We aren't trying to do this on the cheap - we just want to make it an appropriate response to the hazzards involved - in fact BS 5839 even provides for simplicity suggesting to use shouted warnings and hand operated bells where appropriate. We have a professionaly designed strategy for fire and alarm requirements.

In my experience most fire specialists take one look at a building that size and see the chance to make a lot of money out of an installation and regular 'care' contract - one extinguisher contractor took the **** out of us for years that way.

the actual components of fire systems are as reliable as any other modular electrical installation - installing them is no more rocket science than wiring a ring main to a CU.

Just thought I'd try the board for anyones hints on where to get the hardware from and if anyone had any oppinion on what brands were good.

 

[breezer]

in that case you may want to try tlc

 

[RF Lighting]

We fit loads of emergi-lite systems and have found them to be very simple to use and very reliable systems.

You have two options. you can fit either a conventional system Click Here or an analogue addressable system Click Here

Personally I think you would be better off going for an analogue addressable system. The panel is a bit more expensive but you will save money on cable runs and also it is much easier ang quicker to install, as all you need to do is wire a leg from the panel which loops round all the devices and then returns to the panel (like a socket ring circuit) On this loop you can wire all you smoke detectors, heat detectors, sounders, auxillary relays etc. You can then set the zones how you require (you can have 100+ zones on one loop if you want!). Also if you ever get a fault the panel will tell you where it is!

Beware of the Twin-flex systems that are on the market. We fitted a couple of these as a trial and had nothing but problems with them so personally I wouldn't fit another one.

 

[David P]

Thank you for that RF Lighting.
Its really usefull. the analogue addressable system does look interesting, ill check it out.