Re: Fire Side Chat -- Fire Alarm Code Issue

[securitymission@xxxxxxxxxx]

Your comments are well taken.  After I resigned from the other magazine
in the fall of 2000, I went back to the field. I ended up forming a new
low-voltage company for a large electrical contractor in Canton, Ohio,
a union shop with 125 commercial and residential electricians and
teledata technicians. I did small to large projects, and as you can
well imagine, our electrical side drug in a lot of very big projects
for me to engineer for architects we partnered with, as well as bid
along side other project managers. Right now they are busy doing the
largest hopsital job in the state of Ohio.

All of this is to say that where we are located, the county building
department requires 120VAC smoke alarms in all new homes without
exception. You can add system smoke detectors if you wish, as a
homeowner, but you will install the 120 VAC smoke alarms first and they
must comply with Chapter 11, 72. There is no choice. Because we did the
structural cabling system as well as home automation, intercom, simple
security, along with home video surveillance in many cases, we already
were into the client for a good bit of money. Our residential division
did the smoke alarms and CO detection systems but it was my job to tie
them into the home automation or security panel. It was my job to
assist the client in any way I could to 1) provide life safety
protection and 2) to help protect his property.

Yes, I could have taken the hardnose point of view and said no, you
will have to install smoke detectors along side what you already have,
but that did not seem right to me. Of course I would always mention it.
 Some did indeed elect to do it. Most did not.  Again, these folks did
not have a choice in the matter and, even though 72 will allow me to
install one or two system smoke detectors anywhere I wish, simply
because the intent of Chapter 11 was met by the smoke alarms, it did
not seem ethical.

Believe me, if the county building dept. did not require 120VAC smoke
alarms, I would have insisted on the real deal, which is system-type
smoke detectors.  The issue of the relay is an add-on, so long as 1)
the smoke alarms fulfill the intent and conditions of code, and 2) as
long as the relay cannot in any way interfere with the proper operation
of the smoke alarms, which is all part of code.

Here is what one AHJ said about this:

"I don't think there's anything wrong with it. Even if the
burglar alarm panel failed to report, the [smoke alarm] system is
designed only as a local alarm in the house. The [smoke alarm] system
will still do that, so the intent of the code has been met."

I hope I've explained myself well enough as to why I came up with this
and have tried to provide this help to our readers.  The bottom line
is, smoke alarms equal life safety whereas our unlisted relay and
monitoring equals property protection.