Life Safety FAQ's

WHAT IS THE REGULATORY REFORM (FIRE SAFETY) ORDER 2005 AND WHY WAS IT IMPLEMENTED?

The UK Government is committed to regulating only where necessary and in a way that is more suited to the needs of modern business. That is why the order was made, under the Regulatory Reform Act 2001.

WHERE DOES THE REGULATORY REFORM (FIRE SAFETY) ORDER 2005 APPLY AND WHAT ARE THE MAIN RULES UNDER THE ORDER?

The order applies to virtually all premises and covers nearly every type of building, structure and open space. For example, it applies to:

offices and shops;
premises that provide care, including care homes and hospitals;
community halls, places of worship and other community premises;
the shared areas of properties several households live in (housing laws may also apply);
pubs, clubs and restaurants;
schools and sports centres;
tents and marquees;
hotels and hostels; and
factories and warehouses.

It does not apply to:

people’s private homes, including individual flats in a block or house.

The responsible person must:

carry out a fire-risk assessment identifying any possible dangers and risks;
consider who may be especially at risk;
remove or reduce the risk from fire as far as is reasonably possible and provide general fire precautions to deal with any possible risk left;
take other measures to make sure there is protection if flammable or explosive materials are used or stored;
create a plan to deal with any emergency and, in most cases, keep a record of your findings; and
review your findings when necessary.

WHAT STANDARDS SHOULD A FIRE ALARM SYSTEM BE DESIGNED/INSTALLED AGAINST?

In August 2017, the British Standards Institution (BSI) revised the British Standard for fire detection and fire alarm systems in commercial buildings. The current version is BS5839-1:2017.

WHAT IS THE LIFE EXPECTANCY OF A FIRE DETECTION AND ALARM SYSTEM?

There is no predetermined or fixed lifetime for a fire detection and alarm system as this will depend on the technology used and the environment at the site. In general control and indication equipment, power supplies, manual call points and heat detectors have a long life expectancy, while other forms of detection will have a limited life expectancy.

Carbon monoxide (CO) fire detectors have a set and predetermined life and should be replaced as per manufacturers’ instructions. Smoke detectors, including beam detectors and aspirating detectors, will have a variable life expectancy that largely depends on the environment at the site.

Generally, equipment manufacturers will be the best guide to an expected lifetime for a product in a particular environment. In most situations, the expected life of a system and its components can be extended by carrying out regular and appropriate maintenance.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A NON-ADDRESSABLE AND ADDRESSABLE SYSTEM?

In non-addressable systems, detectors are hard-wired into a circuit or zone. They signal fire or fault conditions to a control panel by changing from a high to low impedance (resistance). The panel detects this impedance change by current monitoring and identifies the zone. Individual detectors cannot be identified.

Addressable systems incorporate hard-wired loops and each device has a unique address. The control panel carries out a polling routine in which each device is interrogated in a programmed sequence. Devices respond with a status report which, as confirmation that the correct device is responding, includes its own address. Addressable systems give advance warning of a developing hazard and pinpoint the individual device raising the alarm. It is possible to follow the spread or progress of fire as individual detectors report conditions in their area and this could allow a phased evacuation and precise direction of fire-fighting teams.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF DETECTORS AND WHERE ARE THEY BEST USED?

The key to a reliable, robust fire alarm system is having the right detector in the right place. If the system is too sensitive, it will generate unwanted alarms and if it is not sensitive enough, will not protect what it needs to.

Optical detectors are the default choice for most locations. These are tested across the complete range of EN54 test first and are most sensitive to smoke containing large particles from around 0.4 to 10 microns such as given off by smouldering fires.

Heat Detectors are normally used in environments where a smoke detector may generate false alarms, for example in a kitchen or adjacent to a shower room. Rate of rise detectors will alarm if the temperature rises very quickly, or if the temperature reaches a set threshold. Fixed temperature detectors will alarm once the temperature has reached a present threshold, most commonly 58 or 78 degrees C.

Multicriteria Detectors combine optical and heat elements which allow the sensitivity of the detector to be restored and requires the presence of smoke and high temperature to generate an alarm condition. This type of detector gives good false alarm immunity and response to specific fire types (i.e. clean burning fires).

Beam detection works on the principle of projecting a beam of light across an area which is attenuated when smoke is present thus allowing an alarm to be given. These are particularly suitable for protecting large areas such as atriums, warehouses and shopping centres.

Aspirating smoke detectors draw air samples continuously through a pipe system with sampling holes at regular intervals back to a central detector. The sample air is then analysed for smoke particles and an alarm is raised if smoke is present. The sensitivity of these types of detectors is highly adjustable and can detect a barely visible level of smoke. They can be used in business-critical environments such as servers and IT rooms where a fast response time is paramount and are also well suited to areas of limited access and high-level areas such as warehouses and atrium.

HOW OFTEN SHOULD A FIRE ALARM BE SERVICED?

Regular servicing and maintenance are important parts of limiting the false alarms that may occur on a system.

Tests for detectors (all types) should ensure that products of combustion are capable of passing into the sensing chamber of the detector and this testing should be carried out by a competent person.

The period between successive inspection and servicing visits should be based upon a risk assessment, taking into account the type of system installed, the environment in which it operates and other factors that may affect the long-term operation of the system. The recommended period between successive inspection and servicing visits should not exceed six months. If this recommendation is not implemented, it should be considered that the system is no longer compliant with BS 5839.