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Commercial Fire Alarm Systems

In many cases, local building or national fire codes require fire alarms, particularly for buildings with commercial, business or public occupancies.

There are two general types of fire alarm systems:

Central station

Central station fire alarm systems are privately monitored by an alarm service company for alarm (fire), supervisory (sprinkler malfunction) and trouble (electrical malfunction) conditions. Alarm signals are immediately retransmitted to the serving fire department. In addition, runners from the servicing alarm company are dispatched. Personnel from the protected property and the alarm service company that maintains the system are notified of supervisory and trouble signals.

Central stations maintain records of all signals received, and the systems are periodically tested, inspected and maintained by qualified central station service companies. The U.S. National Fire Alarm Code also requires the alarm service company to issue a certificate or placard, establishing third-party verification of its services.

The three types of central station service providers are:

  • Full-service company - responsible for the testing, inspection, maintenance and repair of the system; provides personnel for resetting the system; and monitors the alarm system.
  • Local service company - responsible for the testing, inspection, maintenance and repair of the system on a specific property; and provides personnel for resetting the system after an alarm. Monitoring service is not performed but is subcontracted to a central station.
  • Monitoring company - monitors alarm systems only.

The four types of non-central station service options include:

  • Local alarm service - where the alarm is sounded only on the property (e.g., an alarm used to notify building occupants to evacuate).
  • Auxiliary station - available only in cities that have street pull boxes (master boxes) that are connected to a fire dispatch center.
  • Remote station - a monitoring facility operated by a municipality or other governmental agency that dispatches the serving fire department (e.g., 911 center). It receives alarm signals and calls the fire department to report them. Where such an agency is unable or unwilling to monitor fire alarms, the jurisdictional authority may choose an alternate location to monitor the alarms.
  • Proprietary station - a monitoring facility operated by the property owner (e.g., a college or university, or industrial complex) and monitored 24 hours a day.

For more information, please contact your nearest UL Security & Signaling representative.

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