Fire Alarm Notification - Requirements and Approaches

Fire Alarm Notification - Requirements and Approaches

Presented by Andrew Woodward, P.E. of Arup

Notification by a fire alarm system is critical to initiate evacuation from a building. If you design and test fire alarm systems, you’ll want to attend this SFPE New England meeting. We will address the following topics:

• Minimum building code requirements for fire alarm system notification based on the IBC and NFPA 72.
• When a mass notification system might be required and the associated risk analysis.
• Emergency communication message content and voice intelligibility.
• Designing to achieve audibility from a voice fire alarm system.
• How to fix a voice fire alarm system that is not meeting audibility.
• Inspection and testing requirements for audible and visual components of a fire alarm system.
• Best practices for speaker/strobe design.
• Survivability requirements for fire alarm notification systems and new available options.

Andrew Woodward is an Associate with Arup in Boston where he supports the design, installation, commissioning and maintenance of fire alarm systems for various clients. He has 19 years of experience and is a licensed fire protection engineer in Massachusetts. He serves on the technical committee for NFPA 72 emergency communication systems since 2007 and is a past president of the SFPE New England Chapter.