Fire Control Panels - Tec Trek Web Site

Tip of the Week

NOW FOR THE NEWSLETTER


Listed and Approved

For the purpose of Fire Protection Systems, these two terms are as important as the system itself.

Listings

Organizations like Underwriters Laboratories (UL),  provide safety-related certification, validation, testing, inspection, auditing, advising and training services to a wide range of clients, including manufacturers, retailers, policymakers, regulators, service companies, and consumers.

For our purposes, agencies like this conduct specific testing of equipment to insure that it performs as specified by the manufacture under a variety of  conditions and situations. This also covers the repairs of items.

Our current codes and standards mandate that all equipment is to be listed by a nationally recognized organization and any modification of said device not approved by the manufacture once the original listing is given, violates the terms and conditions of UL.

Approvals

Approvals on the other hand are agencies that define the system parameters, and limitations on how the system can be used and in what capacity.

For our purpose, NFPA or National Fire Protection Association, gives approvals on the extent of, based on the listings of how a system can be used. In its basic form, a fire control system should have at minimum,  NFPA 72 approval as a Local  Protective Signaling System. NFPA 72 provides details on how the system is to be designed, installed, tested and maintained.

Should your application required any automatic suppression detection/release functions, well you must select a fire control system that has the approvals from NFPA related to the chemical agent in question.

NFPA, is not the only agency that will approve a specific system, should you required a panel for marine applications, then your equipment must also have a Coast Guard approval per 46CFR. There are also State and Local agencies that have approvals for there locations. For example, California State Fire Marshal, requires there approval on all systems in the State.

All the information related to a Fire Control System's listings and approvals, should be located on the inside door of the panel or you can find it in the manufacturer's engineering cuts sheets online.

Do all systems that monitor and alarm for a fire related event meet the above criteria? No
There are PLC based systems, being utilized as Fire Control Systems that are currently in service, yet they have not been listed and/or approved for this application.


If you require more information regarding the terms and explanations above, contact me by email or phone for assistance.

The above information is covered in the following Tec Trek class segments: Awareness Training (FG-01A), Basic Technical Training (FG-01)

For more information regarding training schedules and course curriculum, please visit our Web Site at www.tectrek.org

or Contact Todd Olivier at (337) 298-7959.

To be removed from receiving Tec Trek Tip of the Week, click on the address below and in the subject line type remove. To add a person to the mailing list click on the address below and type in the email information of that person(s).

Email: todd@tectrek.org