Guest Paul Bagpuss Posted February 14 Report Posted February 14 Hi all. I've recently been to look at a fire alarm system in a school. It was built in 2003, when the recommended minimum category of fire alarm system recommended under BS5839 was L4. However, current schools guidance is L3. 4 years ago the fire alarm panel and detection was updated on a like-for-like basis. Should the system have been upgraded to L3 at that time, or is it acceptable to stay with the original system design? Quote
AnthonyB Posted February 18 Report Posted February 18 Guidance is not retrospective, it's up to the fire risk assessment to determine if an upgrade is required due to a change in risk or where the protection under old standards has been proven unsuitable (unusual as injuries and deaths from school fires are virtually unheard of). If the school is in England then both the Government new build and existing school guidance (BB100 & DCLG Educational Guide) still accept a Manual System as minimum, with L4 if used out of hours and L2 (or higher) as compensatory measures (e.g. for CLAP/SCOLA build schools or where other guidance departures exist). BS5839-1 suggests M or M/P2 or M/P2/L4 or M/P2/L5 Quote
W. R. Posted February 28 Report Posted February 28 Hiya All. I am after some advice please. If during a service of a fire alarm system, that was found to have non fire rated cables on zones in a public house. (sounder circuits are fire rated) , could this just be noted down in the recommendations section of the NIC's FSM7C form as immediate improvements required. Quote
AnthonyB Posted March 3 Report Posted March 3 Current installation standards are not retrospective and as long as the sounder circuits are FR it may be tolerable for an existing legacy system based on risk, detection present and as long as the panel is in 'short circuit = fire' mode and not 'short circuit = fault'. The deficiency from current standards should be noted, but as to whether is needs immediate replacement is a matter for the risk assessment Quote
W. R. Posted March 5 Report Posted March 5 On 03/03/2025 at 21:51, AnthonyB said: Current installation standards are not retrospective and as long as the sounder circuits are FR it may be tolerable for an existing legacy system based on risk, detection present and as long as the panel is in 'short circuit = fire' mode and not 'short circuit = fault'. The deficiency from current standards should be noted, but as to whether is needs immediate replacement is a matter for the risk assessment Thanks Anthony Quote
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