green-foam

Hello Chris, my 2p worth on the subject. As Harry almost said, you can forget CO2 because for domestic use it is very limited, and as it is under such pressure it has to be in a heavy canister in order not to burst. A popular miss-conception is the actual discharge time of an extinguisher. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_Nmf1cVPcY From the above you can see that even a big 2kg CO2 extinguisher does not last that long, so even if you could make a smaller one, and if it could be used in a domestic situation it would probably last 2-3 seconds. In your quest, for which I wish you luck, you should consider the following; It needs to be not too heavy. Easy to use Suitable for more than one class of fire. As an aside, "Recently" there was a spherical extinguisher about the size of a grapefruit, its no longer available, but you have to ask yourself why? You may also like to know there are "aerosol" fire extinguishers available, in my opinion they are only of use if an ashtray is on fire.

Normally emergency lights are fed from the existing lighting circuit*, (Often the nearest light) so no need for (as you put it) "lots of wires up and down the 3 storey building" * This does depend on how your current lighting is actually wired. If its not possible, you would only need to have one cable running from the consumers unit to the first emergency light, then daisy chained from there. Which is still not "lots of wires up and down the 3 storey building"

I cant help but wonder. Deborah Hunt, are you asking do all the Manual Call Points have to be identical? (You say a mix of old and new) I would say it depends what you call old and new. Manual Call Points should have a "plastic element" that when pressed activates the alarm. If you still have call points with glass Then, yes these should be changed, BUT if you have differant brands of manual call point, each with a "Plastic element" then so long as they look similar I can not see them being a problem. (Apart from picture size) The above are similar, but NOT identical (Apart from size) If it looks like the one above that has glass, then yes, ideally these should be changed.

Hi, you may want to look at EN54-11 It also says that a Manual Call Point must be red.

I would have to ask, if you could have a solar powered emergency light how would it work? In general, an emergency light will come on when there is a power failure to the lighting circuit. How would a solar emergency light "know" that there is a power failure to the normal lights? you would have to run a cable which would carry a mains voltage......which could charge a normal emergency light. Also you would need to run a cable from each emergency light to a solar panel which is located in view of the sun. (Outside?) This cable could be used to........connect it to the mains. What if it were an overcast day? solar panels need bright sunshine to work, how would it work at night as there is nothing to charge the batteries? Safelincs can supply a mains operated emergency light for £15.59 Click here Although there is no landlords supply, these lights use very little in electricity to charge they could be connected to a tenants supply instead.

1. When the alarm is beeping The Alarm automatically monitors the cells every 40 seconds to ensure they are satisfactory. If a problem is identified it will give a short beep every 40 seconds. If the unit is giving beeps then check the following: (i) Check that the green mains power light is on. If it is off the Alarm has been powered from the cells and the beeps indicate they are depleted. Re-connect the mains, check fuse, circuit breakers and wiring. If in doubt contact a qualified electrician. The beeps should cease within 2 hours as the cells charge up. (ii) Check that the hush button has not been pressed inadvertently (Ei151TL only). This also causes beeps every 40 seconds for up to 15 minutes. Press the test button to cancel hush mode beeps. (iii) The cells may be depleted. The beeps should cease within 2 hours as they charge up. Fully charged, the cells will provide up to 6 months back-up without mains power. (iv) On the Optical Smoke Alarms only (Ei156TLH) if the unit beeps and the red light does not flash at the same time it indicates a problem with the smoke chamber - see Cleaning the Smoke Alarm. If all of the above possible causes of beeps have been ruled out but the beeping has still persisted for over 2 hours with the green light on - the rechargeable cells are probably defective.

Following on from what Harry said, what happens if you switch the lights off (at the switch) in a room where the smoke alarm is. Does the "mains on" light go out after say 2 minutes.

The batteries in self contained emergency lights should be changed on an "as and when" basis OR at the end of their expected life, which ever comes first. To expand on that. Annually all emergency lights should be left to run on their batteries for a minimum of 3 hours. Any that do not last 3 hours should be changed immediately. Depending on make of battery, they each have a differing life expectancy. When the life expectancy date expires the batteries should be changed. Some makes it is 4 years some it is 5 years. I suggest that when a battery is changed the date of installation is written on the battery for future reference. Safelincs supply spare batteries CLICK HERE

If its a two wire system each unit with its own integral sounder and wired in twin and earth, the probability is that it has been installed by an electrician, which then brings into question is the alarm actually suitable for its location, and what else is wrong. I would also have to ask, if you serviced it, what is your normal job? sorry, but I can not help but wonder why you are asking such a question if you are servicing a fire alarm.

What does the wash care label on the curtains say? If you can't find it, go back to where you brought the curtains and ask them.

If you are asking are interconnected smoke alarms that are required by building control maintained by the house owner the answer has to be 99% do not bother. I for one have seen countless smoke detectors that are either open (so you can see there is no battery) or the battery compartment is pulled out. Let me ask this, how would you "police" such a law?

What happens if you take it down, but leave its battery still installed? does this one still beep or is it something else?

I know that from September 2013 all new builds and converted properties in WALES must have domestic fire sprinklers installed, but I for one can not find a law / regulation that says YOU MUST have sprinklers installed in a domestic premises. Smoke alarms yes. One other thing. Above is a commercial fire sprinkler Above is a domestic fire sprinkler (You only see the flat white disc when installed) As you are not sure, I would suggest you ask the building inspector what his reasoning is. (I see while I was writing, Tom posted)

The lights should be tested once a month, short duration, and must be tested once a year for a minimum of 3 hours duration. The fixture itself could last for many years, but if any part fails in the test, that part should be replaced. As a rule of thumb the batteries will last for around 3 years. If the fitting has a florescent tube the life will depend on if the unit is maintained or non-maintained, in either case if the lamp has blackened ends / starting to turn black the tube will need replacing.

Give them a number / ticket when they arrive.

I would suggest that you have a fire risk assessment carried out. I would also suggest that interconnected smoke alarms do not constitute a fire alarm. To expand on the above: Interconnected smoke alarms are acceptable for a domestic dwelling, but for use as a "Fire Alarm" they fail on several reasons. If a fire is discovered there is no way of manually initiating the alarm. (A fire alarm has manual call points) There is no sound volume requirement. (A fire alarm has to have a minimum sound level in all areas) They can be wired in non fire proof cable. (A fire alarm has to be wired in fire proof cable) The list does go on.

I can not speak for any specific venue. In cases where the fire alarm may be set off regularly by "special effects" it is not uncommon to have a sounder delay. This is done so that the cause can be investigated first. A typical scenario is a night club, where the manual call point is deliberately operated for "amusement" Instead of all the sounders operating and the dj equipment being silenced etc the area the device that initiated the activation is inspected, if it is found to be false, the corrective procedure is carried out (MCP reset) if there is a genuine cause for evacuation or there is no reply from the person who went to check, the delay expires and the sounders operate. This can only be done when the fire panel is monitored by a person for the duration of the premises opening hours. If you can do it or not depends upon the risk assessment and the ability of the fire alarm panel, for which you would have to consult your fire alarm maintenance company. There is also the vague possibility that your beam devices are misaligned or in need of a good clean. (They work by being able to see a specific beam of light. Just like a window, if it is dirty, you will not be able to see too well through it, hence the suggestion they may be just dirty) But you should get your fire alarm maintenance company to check.

I can't help but think Rosemary is getting confused between a Fire alarm and smoke / heat alarms. Rosemary, some clarification is required. A fire alarm has a control panel, smoke / heat detectors and manual call points. The main panel should be located in the main entrance area / lobby. A smoke / heat alarm looks something like These can be used a "stand alone" units or connected to to other units of the same make. They have no control panel.

You can write as many sheets as you like, the one thing you should really do is to test each light for its duration. There is a saying amongst fire engineers "Just because the green light is on does not mean its working" I tested some last month, I had one fail after 30 seconds. Its now fixed. But my point is as "the little green light was on" If It was believed this to be an indication all is well It would have been wrong, and the light would have been no use in a power failure. It depends on what type of lights you have but in short you should switch the mains off to each one (via a dedicated switch) and see how long it stays lit for, it should stay on for 180 minutes or more. The switches may look similar to Or you may even have Safelincs do sell just the key for the first switch (its a very common one) You can find the key on This Page

The way I read it, he has neither, he has polystyrene insulation boards. I guess he took Tom's advice. The website says nothing about their flammability or not.

Hi, by its nature a maglock is failsafe. A maglock can only hold a door secure for as long as it is powered. I would guess that the 3rd party company are going to connect the maglock to a fire alarm interface. When the fire alarm activates the interface will remove the supply to the maglock, which means the door will release. Although you have a green button (probably marked "Press to exit" ) if there is a fire, people often panic and may forget to push the button to release the door, so by having the maglock interfaced with the fire alarm, it removes this possibility. There should also be one of these by the front door. Unlike the green button you have that is a "request to exit" this will break the supply to the maglock (same as the fire alarm interface does) so releasing the door. If the worst happens, and the supply to the maglock is burnt through, because it is failsafe the maglock will release the door.

"What legal document supports my views?" None what so ever, its just my opinion, and what I get told at work. (The fact that my car is my place of work, but we are not given fire extinguishers)

I would say that depends on what you are doing as to if a van is a work place. Take a delivery company as an example. The vehicle is going around all day from A to B to C to D etc carrying packages in the back which are subsequently delivered, so the vehicle is a place of work. But if you go from your home to your place of work, stay at your place of work all day, then go home later, the vehicle was only used to move you from home to work and back so the van is not a place of work. Even if it was a car, it can still be a place of work. If The driver is say a risk assessor and has to visit several places a day, then s/he is using the car to get to various places of work for work purposes, but on days where s/he goes from home to the office and back its not a place of work, but since they could use the car at any (reasonable) time for work it would be easier to consider it a place of work. Say if the driver is a "contractor" going from home to the same place of work for a short while, then moving on to the next job, because the place of work is for ever changing and the driver will have their tools and materials in the vehicle (car or van) then that too is a place of work. Also would it not depend on what the insurance company say it is? (Providing you give them the correct facts in the first place) I would say in short, if your vehicle carrys anything "for work" then it is a work place.

Fire alarms are also known as life safety systems, they are designed to give warning (audible / visual) that a building is on fire and that upon activation of the alarm everyone should vacate the building immediately. It is not a requirement for every fire alarm to "call the fire brigade" Ideally In the event of a fire alarm activating as well as everyone vacating the building to a designated area, pre determined people (aka fire wardens / marshals) should check that everyone is out safely (and check the visitors book) Also, should they be required, one of the fire wardens will call the fire brigade. At least one responsible person / fire warden should have a working knowledge of how to use the fire alarm, by that I mean, know how to read what the panel is indicating and determine is it a false alarm, and if it is a false alarm they should know the procedure to reset the alarm panel.

Hello Sam, I will leave the rules / regulations to Harry / Tom . I understand what you are asking but I suggest you look at it this way. Heaven forbid there should be a real fire, but will the pregnant lady know what to do? She may also need assistance exiting the building, in which case perhaps one or two people could be "assigned" to help her. I would say the managers are quite right, after all, practice does make perfect, which is why you have fire drills in the first place.