Expert Fire Alarm Installation and Testing Services in Leicester

The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 came into force on 1st October 2015. These regulations require a smoke alarm to be installed on every storey of a property used as accomodation. A carbon monoxide alarm must be installed in any room which is used as accomodation and has something which could emit carbon monoxide.

Private sector landlords were required from 1st October 2015 to have at least one smoke alarm installed on every storey of their properties and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room containing something which may emit carbon monoxide. After that, the landlord must make sure the alarms are in working order at the start of each new tenancy.

The requirements are enforced by local authorities who can impose a fine of up to £5,000 where a landlord fails to comply with a remedial notice.

Find out more here.

In all the new, altered buildings as well as all the existing buildings except domestic premises are subject to the Fire alarm regulations that form part of ‘The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005’, known as the ‘RRFSO’. According to these regulations, an FRA (fire risk assessment) must be conducted for all the existing, new and altered buildings in order to narrow down on the suitable and sufficient fire safety solution for the premises.

The Fire Risk Assessment will be the cornerstone for your fire safety plan.

If you are in doubt, then your FRA should specifically state whether you should install automatic fire detection system or not.

Although all the fire alarm systems basically operate on the same principle, there are a few differences when it comes to functionality. There 4 types of fire alarms in use:

• Conventional fire alarm system - that divides your property into broad zones.  In the event of an alert, the panel identifies the zone, but not the precise area. Useful or suitable in small or low risk environments

• Addressable fire alarm system – has individual devices with their own unique addresses, which when activated directs the panel to the problem area precisely. Most suitable for large and high risk environments such as schools, Care homes, hospitals.

• Analogue addressable fire alarm system- has individual intelligent devices that can evaluate whether there is a fire, fault or pre-alarm or other and communicate this information to the control panel. This is most suitable to prevent false alarms.

• Wireless systems- use a secure wireless link between the sensors and the fire alarm panel. These systems work typically like addressable systems, just without the wires. These are most suitable for premises where lots of cables or wires cannot be built into, such as churches, historic buildings.

The regulation does not specify the type of alarms must be installed. 786 Electricals provides the installation of the right type of alarm that suits your budget and requirements according to BS 5839 specifications (the relevant British Standard).

The fire alarm grades basically define how your fire alarm should be constructed while Categories defines which areas of the premises should it cover. Fire alarm grades run from ‘A’ through to ‘F’, with ‘A’ being the highest grade and ‘F’ being the lowest.

Categories has 2: Category ‘P’ systems that protect property and Category ‘L’ systems that protect life.

Grades: for residential – can be anywhere from D- F

For Businesses- must be A- C 

Category P

• P1: Detection is installed everywhere, including the voids in the building
• P2: Detection is used only in certain identified fire risk areas

Category L

• L1- Highest level of cover- Detection is installed in circulation areas, every room including cupboards
• L2- Detection is installed in circulation areas, rooms which open onto circulation areas and additional high risk areas
• L3- Detection is installed in circulation areas and rooms which open onto circulation areas
• L4- Detection is installed in circulation areas only such as corridors and stairways
• L5- Lowest level of cover- Detection is installed in identified fire risk areas

The grade and category of fire alarm system your premises needs are dependent on the nature of your business and the size and layout of your premises. If you are unsure of the grade and category of fire alarm systems, don’t worry, we are always happy to help you identify that and install the suitable system as per the British Standard BS 5839.

UK fire alarm regulations make no specific requirement as to who can install a fire alarm, other than that they must be ‘competent’. A competent person or company should understand the various types of fire alarm systems and their function, must know the main makes and models of fire alarms, must be able to identify the grade and category you need and have a good understanding and design experience in fire alarm systems that meet BS 5839 requirements.

Generally, a 6-month period check would suffice as per the BS 5839 regulations, however, for larger premises, we would recommend a quarterly maintenance service, as there are many more components to your fire alarm system, and therefore more opportunities for something to go wrong.

To be precise, there are 2 main reasons to keep your fire alarm in good condition:

1.     To alert occupants in the event of fire and so prevent loss of life

2.    To prevent false alarms that otherwise result in lot of expense and might keep the fire brigade occupied while a real emergency occurs

Weekly fire alarm testing and servicing are two different aspects, both of which are legally required. A fire alarm service is a thorough investigation of the whole fire alarm system while weekly testing is more of a ‘spot check’. Maintaining a fully operational fire alarm is a regulatory requirement and for that regular testing is important. This weekly fire alarm testing guidance comes from British Standard BS 5839.  In the event of this weekly test being conducted less frequently, you would have to explain the reasons for deviation from BS 5839 to the visiting fire investigation officers.

In a weekly test, at least one fire alarm call-point is activated and checked for the alarm sound and whether the panel receives the signal or not. Each week a different call point is checked. Once the successful check is done, the fire panel is re-set.

The record of the test must be made in your fire alarm log book, including the location of the call-point(s) that you tested.

In the event of your fire alarm going wrong, which could be one of the following cases:

–    False alarm

–    a light on your fire alarm panel says there is a fault

–    beeping fire alarm panel

–    power supply problem to your fire alarm panel

Then you call our team immediately.  This is because the system can’t be considered to be ‘adequately maintained’ if there is a fault and you would therefore be non-compliant with fire alarm regulations.

We will ensure to respond quickly to your call-out request and resolve any major or minor issues that have arisen.