Advanced delivers new fire safety regime for Scottish Borders hotel

The George and Abbotsford Hotel is located just a five-minute walk from the historic St Cuthbert’s Way and Melrose Abbey in the Scottish Borders. A popular and busy hotel, it attracts guests who are keen to walk in the footsteps of St Cuthbert across unspoiled countryside, as well as visit ancient market towns and local historic sites, such as Abbotsford the home of Sir Walter Scott.

With guest and staff safety of paramount importance, an upgrade was required for the existing fire alarm system to bring it up to Category L2 coverage standards as the installed legacy system was obsolete and beginning to fail.

Fire and security services provider Safe Services was contracted to upgrade the fire system and installed an Advanced MxPro 5 four-loop analogue addressable fire panel, with all four loops used to meet the requirements of this large hotel.

The Advanced panel was also seamlessly integrated with EMS Firecell wireless devices. Due to the size of the hotel, it would have been impossible to install cabling because of the extensive downtime that would be needed to fit the cables. The system was also interfaced with a kitchen fire suppression system in order to provide extra protection.

Complex project

“We are very happy with the Advanced system,” said Graham Barrett, owner of the George and Abbotsford Hotel. “It was quite a complex project as the hotel is a big building. The previous fire safety system was obsolete. It was a cabled system and the cables were obsolete as well. It would have been very costly to install a replacement cabled system due to the complex nature of such work. We decided on a radio system and this was installed in just one week.”

Graeme Millar, fire technical sales engineer at Safe Services, added: “The George and Abbotsford Hotel required a new fire alarm system to meet Category L2 specifications. We’ve integrated the Advanced panel with the wireless EMS Firecell. The Advanced MxPro 5 is our panel of choice as it’s a trusted and reliable panel for our design and installation teams. Combining the Advanced MxPro 5 with the EMS equipment works very well.”

Neil Parkin, sales manager at Advanced, concluded: “In hotels, it’s vital to ensure fire alarm systems meet the latest standards such that they protect guests and members of staff. MxPro 5 panels are designed to make life as easy as possible, delivering robust protection and compliance that offers real peace of mind, all backed up by what is a highly- rated technical support. Selecting wireless equipment when installing a fire system offers minimal disruption for hotels, realising both time and cost benefits.”

MxPro 5 is certified by FM Approvals to EN 54. It offers customers a choice of four detector protocols and a completely open installer network, all underpinned by free training and support. MxPro 5 can be used in single-loop, single-panel format or easily configured into high-speed networks of up to 200 panels covering huge areas.

Installation and configuration

Ease of installation and configuration, as well as its wide range of peripheral options, make MxPro 5 customisable to almost any application.

Wireless solutions not only mean lower visual and physical impact, but they’re also faster and cheaper to install, making them an increasingly popular alternative for sites where downtime is not an option or re-wiring would prove disruptive. Thanks to two-way communication with the panel, battery replacement and fault reporting can also be worked into the ongoing maintenance schedule via the panel service tools.

MxPro 5’s false alarm management capabilities are available as standard and ideal in hotel applications. AlarmCalm delivers “unprecedented control” of verification and investigation delays. By dividing sites into virtual false alarm ‘building areas’ independent of fire zones, much more precise control of false alarm management and reduction strategies can be achieved that exactly fit the needs of each part of a building.

*Further information is available online at www.advancedco.com