Chapter 3

Fire Alarm System Components

and Functions
 Objectives
• Describe a fire alarm system.
• List five functions fire alarm systems provide.
• List and describe the three types of fire alarm
signals.
• Discuss the characteristics of conventional
fire alarm system technology.
• Discuss the characteristics of addressable
fire alarm system technology.
 Objectives
• Discuss the functions of a fire alarm
control panel and annunciation panel.
• List and describe the different components
that make up a fire alarm system.
• List and describe devices that interface
with a fire alarm system to supervise the
condition of other fire protection systems.
 Introduction
• Fire alarm systems provide notification of
fire emergencies.
– Survival depends on time from recognition to
evacuation.
• Three main system components of
systems:
– Initiating device
– Notification device
– Control panel
 Introduction
• Some systems can send signals in
addition to occupant notification.
– To locations where trained staff receive and
act
– To other fire and life safety systems
 Introduction
• Many system components ensure
functionality and operational capabilities.
– Some systems are basic; others perform
complex tasks.
– All components have a purpose and must be
evaluated and tested by a nationally
recognized lab.
Fire Alarm Control Panel/Unit
• History of system
“brain”
– Older systems used
conventional
technology to link
manual fire alarm
boxes and bells.
• 2-wire circuits
• A break in a wire could
down entire system.

© A. Maurice Jones, Jr./Jones & Bartlett Learning

Fire Alarm Control Panel/Unit
• History (cont’d)
– Next generation of
panels featured:
• Smaller electronic
components
• Logic or circuit relays
• Two- and four-wire
circuits
• Expanded performance
and monitoring
© A. Maurice Jones, Jr./Jones & Bartlett Learning
Fire Alarm Control Panel/Unit
• History (cont’d)
– Today’s panels use:
• State-of-the-art electronics
• Microprocessors
• Intelligent software
– Technology supports all
system sizes and makes
information available
immediately to first
responders and others.
© A. Maurice Jones, Jr./Jones & Bartlett Learning
Fire Alarm Control Panel/Unit
• The panel has multiple functions:
– Monitors integrity of system circuits and devices
– Processes input signals from initiating devices
– Drives notification appliances
– Provides an interface with other system
– Powers power supply
• Two independent sources of power are used:
– Power utility and backup source
Fire Alarm Control Panel/Unit
• Types of fire alarm signals
– Not all information communicated by alarm
system means there is a fire.
– Alarms alert occupants to a fire emergency.
– Trouble signals sound when there is a problem
with system integrity.
– Supervisory signals sound when there is a
change in normal ready status of other fire
protection systems or devices connected to the
control panel.
 Initiating Devices
• Manual initiating devices
– Manual fire alarm box is
the only kind (manual
box, manual pull box,
manual pull station).
– A person pulls a handle
to activate the alarm.
– Device must be
accessible and visible.

© A. Maurice Jones, Jr./Jones & Bartlett Learning

 Initiating Devices
• Manual initiating devices (cont’d)
– NFPA 72, National Fire Alarm and Signaling
Code, lists requirements for boxes.
– Boxes must be within 5ʹ of exit, 42–48″ above
the floor, colored red unless environment
precludes use of color.
– Boxes must be listed and approved for moist,
damp, or wet conditions.
• Protect from corrosion, rust, electrical shorting,
grounding
 Initiating Devices
• Manual initiating devices (cont’d)
– Protective covers:
• Protect from environment
• Protect from physical damage
• Deter individuals from pulling to create false alarm
 Initiating Devices
• Manual initiating devices (cont’d)
– Operational characteristics create categories:
• Non-coded
• Coded
• General alarm
• Pre-signal
• Break-glass
• Non-break-glass
• Single-action
• Double-action
– Once fire alarm box is pulled, it requires resetting.
 Initiating Devices
• Automatic initiating devices
– Classified by fire signature component they
detect: heat, smoke, flame, or gas
– Also classified by class and size of hazard
they protect
• Spot detectors: specific area
• Line detectors: area along an uninterrupted linear
route
• Air sampling detectors: pull air from a protected
area and check for products of combustion
 Initiating Devices
• Automatic initiating devices (cont’d)
– Heat detectors (general info)
• Installed when environmental conditions and
temperatures fluctuate, heat output is high, or
speed of fire detection is not of concern
• Not prone to false alarms
• Low cost
• Slower at detection because rely on heat (not life
safety devices)
 Initiating Devices
• Automatic initiating devices (cont’d)
– Heat detectors (types)
• Fixed-temperature heat detectors
• Rate-of-rise heat detectors
• Fixed-temperature/rate-of-rise detectors
• Rate-compensation heat detectors
 Initiating Devices
• Automatic initiating devices (cont’d)
– Smoke detectors (general info)
• Rely on smoke particles, not heat generation
– Smoke is developed and detected faster than heat.
• Considered life safety devices
• Some limitations (cover small areas, must be
appropriately sensitive, only as good as upkeep)
• Selection of type is based on multiple factors.
• Correct type and location are critical to quick
response.
 Initiating Devices
• Automatic initiating devices (cont’d)
– Smoke detectors (types)
• Ionized smoke detectors
• Light-scattering photoelectric smoke detectors
• Light-obscuration photoelectric smoke detectors
(beam detectors)
• Air sampling smoke detectors
• Duct smoke detectors
• Video smoke and flame detectors
• Multiple-parameter, low-false-alarm fire detectors
 Initiating Devices
• Automatic initiating devices (cont’d)
– Radiant energy sensing fire detectors
• Also called flame or spark/ember detectors
• Look for specific portions of the light spectrum
produced by flames, sparks, and embers
• Used especially in industrial/manufacturing
• Installed where hazard level is high, rapid and
sensitive detection is critical, and remote detection
of small fires is critical
• Right type of detector based on environment and
fuel type, and sources of non-fire radiant energy
 Initiating Devices
• Automatic initiating
devices (cont’d)
– Radiant energy sensing
fire detectors
(categories):
• Ultraviolet (UV)
• Infrared (IR)
• Ultraviolet/infrared (UV/IR)
© A. Maurice Jones, Jr./Jones & Bartlett Learning
• Infrared/infrared (IR/IR)
 Initiating Devices
• Automatic initiating devices (cont’d)
– Gas sensing fire detectors
• Utilize multiple sensing technologies (infrared,
semiconductor, electrochemical, catalytic bead)
• Detect gas and vapors
• Protect high hazard environments (e.g., offshore
oil and gas rigs, HVAC air intakes, oil and gas
wells)
 Initiating Devices
• Automatic initiating devices (cont’d)
– Signal processing/alarm verification
• Most modern alarms/detectors can validate
conditions before sounding an alarm.
• Signal processing checks the smoke in the
detector at specified intervals, initiating an alarm
when threshold is exceeded for a certain amount
of time.
• With alarm verification, when the panel receives a
signal it delays to see if the condition clears before
sounding an alarm.
 Initiating Devices
• Automatic initiating devices (cont’d)
– Water flow initiating devices
• Also known as a water flow switch
• Use a flexible round paddle or vane that inserts
into the wet sprinkler piping
• The paddle can activate a switch, which sends a
signal to the panel and activates the alarm
• Installed by sprinkler contractor but wired to fire
alarm system by fire alarm or electrical contractor
• Switches have built-in adjustable time delay;
compensate for fluctuations in water pressure
 Initiating Devices
• Automatic initiating devices (cont’d)
– Alarm pressure switch initiating devices
• Installed by fire sprinkler contractor; wired by fire
alarm or electrical contractor
• Screw into a fitting in the sprinkler system’s pipe
components package
• Operate when pressure setting rises above/drops
below a certain threshold
• No time delay
• May require manual reset
 Notification Appliances
• Overview
– Notifying occupants is the most important
function of the fire alarm system.
– Many different notification appliances are
used.
– System type and device location depend on
multiple factors.
 Notification Appliances
• Public mode/private mode notification
– Public mode notification alerts occupants
visually or audibly.
• Most common
• Appropriate for locations where people can make
decisions and take action
– Grocery stores
– Schools
– Office buildings
 Notification Appliances
• Public mode/private mode notification
(cont’d)
– Private mode is used when sounding a
general alarm is impractical.
• When occupants are not physically or mentally
capable or when their movement is restricted
– Nursing homes
– Hospitals
– Jails
• Trained individuals receive signal and implement
emergency procedures.
 Notification Appliances
• Coded, non-coded, and textual signals
– Coded signals: Generate a predetermined
number of visual or audible patterns for a
specific duration to identify the location of the
initiating device
– Non-coded signals: Provide a constant visual
or audible signal until reset
– Textual signals: Voice message over
speakers, text message on an annunciation
panel, or symbol flashing on a screen
 Notification Appliances
• Audible appliances (general info)
– Must be loud enough to be heard over regular
noise level of the area
• NFPA 72 requirements
– Must make a distinctive sound
• ANSI S3.41, three-pulse temporal pattern
– Must relay information intelligibly
• Clear and understandable
 Notification Appliances
• Audible appliances
(types)
– Horns
– Speakers
– Bells
– Chimes, buzzers,
sirens, piezos
– Exit-marking audible © A. Maurice Jones, Jr./Jones & Bartlett Learning

notification appliances
 Notification Appliances
• Visible appliances (general info)
– Produce flashing lights seen when the fire alarm
system activates
– Necessary in case audible alarms are not heard
– Required by adopted building, fire accessibility,
and life safety codes
– Installed in public/common areas, employee work
areas, high-ambient-noise-level areas, sleeping
rooms in institutional/residential occupancies
 Notification Appliances
• Visible appliances
(types)
– Strobe lights are the
most common.
– Other options include:
• Quartz lamps
• Solid-state lamps
• Fluorescent lamps
• Incandescent
© A. Maurice Jones, Jr./Jones & Bartlett Learning
 Notification Appliances
• Combination appliances
– Audible and visible
devices combined to
originate from a single
appliance
– Combinations:
horn/strobe,
speaker/stroke,
bell/flashing incandescent
lamp

© A. Maurice Jones, Jr./Jones & Bartlett Learning

 Notification Appliances
• Addressable notification appliances
– New appliance that can interact with software
via microprocessor-based fire alarm control
panel to:
• Program candela rating
• Determine and adjust power levels
• Perform tests
• Print status reports
 Annunciation Panels
• Overview
– First, fire fighters respond to the main
entrance and initiate operational activities;
then they look for the annunciation panel.
– The panel provides valuable information on
initiating device, involved system(s), and
location of fire.
– Some panels are simple (handwritten); others
incorporate LCD textual messaging or touch
screens.
 Annunciation Panels
• Components
– Some panels provide a graphic representation
of a building footprint.
– Different colored lights, lenses, or light-
emitting diodes identify the type of signal
being generated by the initiating device.
– Panels serve multiple functions, from system
reset to control features that assist first
responders.
 Annunciation Panels
• Graphic panels
– Provide info about
building layout, fire
protection systems,
and related systems
– Immediate visual info
– Display locations
(“You are here”)
© A. Maurice Jones, Jr./Jones & Bartlett Learning
– Info must be kept up to
date and be accurate.
 Annunciation Panels
• Computer touch
screen
– Most advanced type of
annunciation panel
– Provides info about
the status of the
building fire protection
systems and
integrates with other © A. Maurice Jones, Jr./Jones & Bartlett Learning

systems
 Power Expander Panels
• When buildings are
renovated, it is common
to find that existing
control panels cannot
support additional
notification devices.
• Power expander panels
provide supplemental
power.

© A. Maurice Jones, Jr./Jones & Bartlett Learning

 Other Components and
Systems
• Other components associated with fire
alarm systems include:
– Electronic valve supervisory devices
• Tamper switches can send supervisory signals.
– Pressure switches
• Switches can initiate alarm/generate supervisory
signal
– Air and water temperature sensors/water level
sensors
• Sensors can send supervisory signals.
 Summary
• One of the most important functions of the
fire alarm system is to notify building
occupants that there is a fire condition. The
fire alarm system is also capable of sending
different signals to an on- or off-site location
where trained staff take the appropriate
action.
 Summary
• Over the past 40 or so years, fire alarm
control panel technology has evolved from
very simple to very complex. The most
sophisticated and newest systems use
microprocessor-based software-driven
systems that interface with building and life
safety systems.
 Summary
• Some fire alarm systems have the capability
of sending signals to other building systems
to perform life safety functions such as
capturing elevators, recalling elevators to a
particular floor, turning off the power to
elevators, unlocking exit doors, starting fans,
closing smoke dampers, pressurizing stair
towers and elevator shafts, and closing
smoke doors to compartmentalize an area of
a building.
 Summary
• The fire alarm system provides critical
information to first responders by identifying
alarm type and location, and supervising
other fire and life safety systems and
components.
• Many different components are necessary to
ensure full system functionality and
operational capability during a fire
emergency.
 Summary
• Fire alarm panels monitor and control all
system devices and initiate the appropriate
type of signal, which includes alarm, trouble,
or supervisory.
• Initiating devices provide manual or
automatic means of activating fire alarm and
supervisory signals.
 Summary
• Notification appliances provide audible,
visual, and textual signals to begin
evacuation or relocation of occupants.
• The annunciation panel provides visible and
valuable information concerning the device
signaling an alarm and area of the building
where the fire is located.