Standard for Control Units and Accessories for Fire Alarm Systems
Scope:
1.1 This Standard covers requirements as related to the following:
a) Discrete electrical control units and accessories for fire alarm systems including smoke control, releasing, Building System Information Unit (BSIU), and emergency communication systems;
b) Electrically- and electronically-operated amplifiers that provide speech communication and distinctive sounds in conjunction with fire protective signaling systems; and
c) Commercial stationary and fixed power supplies for fire-protective signaling systems, having input and output ratings of not more than 600 V, direct- and alternating-current, (DC and AC).
1.2 This Standard covers requirements for control units, fire alarm systems and control unit accessories to be employed in ordinary (nonhazardous) indoor and outdoor locations in accordance with the following standards as applicable:
a) CSA C22.1, Canadian Electrical Code, Part I, Safety Standard for Electrical Installations
b) NBC, National Building Code of Canada
c) NFPA 12, Standard for Carbon Dioxide Extinguishing Systems
d) NFPA 12A, Standard for Halon 1301 Fire Extinguishing Systems
e) NFPA 13, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems
f) NFPA 15, Standard for Water Spray Fixed Systems for Fire Protection
g) NFPA 16, Standard for the Installation of Foam-Water Sprinkler and Foam-Water Spray Systems
h) NFPA 17, Standard for Dry Chemical Extinguishing Systems
i) NFPA 17A, Standard for Wet Chemical Extinguishing Systems
j) NFPA 70, National Electrical Code
k) NFPA 72, National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code
l) NFPA 92, Standard for Smoke, Control Systems
m) NFPA 750, Standard for Water Mist Fire Protection Systems
n) NFPA 2001, Standard for Clean Agent Fire Extinguishing Systems
o) NFPA 2010, Standard for Aerosol Fire Extinguishing Systems
p) ULC-S524, Standard for the Installation of Fire Alarm Systems.
1.3 The products covered by this standard are intended to be used in combination with other appliances and devices to form a commercial fire alarm system. These products provide all monitoring, control, and indicating functions of the system. An installation document(s) provided with the product describes the various products needed to form a fire alarm system and their intended use and installation.
1.4 This Standard does not cover replacement parts for fire alarm systems that consist of products or subassemblies of complete products manufactured in accordance with previous editions of their respective standards.
1.5 This standard does not cover:
a) Manual boxes, automatic fire detectors, manual releasing stations, other initiating devices (e.g. carbon monoxide, and other similar gas sensors) notification appliances not provided as part of the product; and
b) In the United States only: Abort stations.
1.6 This Standard does not cover devices such as fans, dampers, motors, etc., which perform smoke control functions.
1.7 The term “product” as used in this Standard refers to all items of equipment covered by the Scope.
1.8 These requirements do not include determination of compliance with:
a) In Canada only: The rules and regulations of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.
b) In the United States only: The rules and regulations of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Project need:
27.3 Monitoring Integrity Clause 27.3.1 calls for testing the failure of any component in the audio chain and proceeds to list example functional blocks in parentheses. It does not go into detail on how to select components or how to fault them. It has been interpreted by certification organizations that every resistor, capacitor, or integrated circuit could be considered a ‘Component’ and therefore is a target for fault testing, however there are no such examples in the text. We propose that it is infeasible to make every discrete electronic ‘component’ of the audio chain detectible during fault testing. NFPA 72 is similarly unclear on this topic. Consideration was given to clarifying what is meant by “component” (since it appears to refer to processor-like devices for which it is difficult to ensure their integrity), but there was no clear precedence of such language in the standard. For that reason, the proposal being made is based on the Software Monitoring and Capacitors clauses, which are already an accepted solution for critical components.
In section 54.5, Capacitors, there are caveats that allow for the use of reliable components in situations where “it is not practical to have a component failure indicated”. Methods of guaranteeing reliable operation include derating voltage and temperature, or seeking failure rates less than or equal to 0.5 failures per million hours of operation.
Under these deratings/reliability evaluations we exempt many of the most critical components in an FACU including resistors, capacitors, and semiconductors that manage Initiating Device Circuits from fault testing. Audio paths should be held to an equal standard.
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Individual SDOs are responsible for the content and accuracy of the information presented here. The text is presented in the language in which it was provided to SCC.