FIRE ALARMS CAN COST BIG
By Randy Brown
A recent move by the City of Calgary Fire Department could see building owners paying big fines for false alarms. The City's new by-law permits an owner just two false alarms in a calendar year at no charge. The next two false alarms will now cost the owner $250 each, and this fine jumps to $500 for each false alarm after that.
There are several elements to the fire department's justification of the new fees:
- The fire department is under the same budget constraints as other
City departments, and is looking for ways to recover costs.
- The fire department has already asked owners to consider upgrading
their properties. Many apartment buildings have 20 to 25 year-old smoke
detectors, which cause more nuisance alarms at these buildings.
- Most firefighter deaths in North America occur in traffic accidents on the way to the call – statistically most likely to be during a false alarm.
Latest-technology systems, known as “addressable” fire alarm systems, are fairly easy to troubleshoot if the need arises, whereas problems with older systems can be very difficult to solve, and don’t communicate very well with the owner. This situation is made even worse when the fire department shows up, resets the fire alarm system and leaves, without ever communicating with a building owner or manager. Recently, an owner had six false alarms in the same day, and only found out about them when he received the bill in the mail.
There are four basic kinds of fire alarm systems:
- Older three-wire fire alarm systems that do not have control panels,
typically found in smaller buildings built in the mid to late 1970's, or
earlier. Smoke detectors were added to these systems in the early
1980's. One of the hardest fire alarm systems to troubleshoot, the
offending smoke detector will sound for about two seconds before the
alarm bells start to ring. Then, it takes two people to find the
offending device; one to turn the power on and off, and the other to
locate the device causing the problem – and this only works if the
device is malfunctioning at the time.
- Obsolete fire alarm panels installed in buildings with five or more
floors and built in roughly 1975 or earlier. Smoke detectors were also
added to these systems in the early 1980's. This type of fire alarm
system can be extremely difficult to locate a faulty device within as
well, because when a device triggers an alarm, an indicator lights at
the panel and sets off the alarm bells. If the device clears itself, the
light goes out on the panel, but the bells keep ringing. The fire
department shows up to a building in full alarm, but with no indication
as to where the alarm originated.
- Hard-wired fire alarm systems, installed in all buildings built from
the late 1970's to present day. With this type of system, the detector
that sets off the alarm has an indicator on it to show exactly which
detector is in alarm. The panel shows the alarm and the detector remains
lit until the system is reset. Unfortunately after it is reset, there is
no way to tell which device caused the alarm.
- Latest-technology systems. The newest technology identifies the exact device that is in alarm, tracks all system activity in an event log, and incorporates a lot of false alarm reduction features – all computerized.
With latest-technology systems, if the fire panel receives an alarm from a detection device, it logs the alarm without ringing the bells. A few seconds later, if the detector is still in alarm, the panel processes the alarm, rings the bells, and calls the fire department. If the detector was not in alarm when the panel checked back, the false alarm is recorded into the panel's log but the building never goes into alarm. The panel can even notify you that a device is dirty, before it malfunctions and causes a problem. All events are recorded in an event log, so a technician can visit the site days or weeks after a false alarm, and still determine which device caused it. It can even be determined that a device has almost triggered an alarm.
The false alarm by-law is in its infancy. One can only assume that the fees are going to go up over time. If you are an owner of a building that is not equipped with addressable technology, it may be more cost effective for you to consider retrofitting the building before this money is spent on fines. There are many things to consider when retrofitting a building with a new fire alarm system:
- Find out about the system. There are five major types being sold in
the Calgary market: Mircom, Notifier, Edwards, Simplex, and Siemens.
With certain of these, the manufacturer is the only one who can get into
the system's program, so ask about this.
- Check out the contractor - make sure they have experience with
installation and capability to service the system afterward. Check out
the warranty - does it include both parts and labor?
- Make sure that the system is installed under the proper permits - the installing contractor should be obtaining both a City of Calgary Building Permit (requires the involvement of an electrical engineer) and an Electrical Permit. When the installation is complete, the system should be verified in the presence of the electrical engineer.
An addressable fire alarm system may cost more upfront to install, but will definitely save money in the long run. More important, it could save a life. Fines will never be recovered, so consider planning for the installation now, rather than waiting until false alarm problems start.
Randy Brown is the principal of Fahrenheit 451 Fire &
Security. He is well known and respected within the residential rental
industry as a fire and security expert, representing the CAA in this
capacity on many governmental levels. Randy can be reached at
312-3473.
