Fire Detection Solutions for Bulgaria’s Growing Construction Sector

European manufacturers, particularly so those from Germany, are actively relocating production to Bulgari, drawn by full EU system compatibility, competitive operating costs and strong logistics access through the Black Sea ports. The end result is a significant volume of new buildings and expanding facilities, all of them requiring first-class fire detection systems specified correctly from the outset.

The specification decisions made at this stage will determine how these buildings perform for decades. Making sure that detection is right early on is much easier than making changes down the line when a building is already in use. For logistics and manufacturing environments, this means systems that work reliably in large spaces with storage racking, handle different occupancy patterns and don’t generate false alarms that stop normal operations.

Logistics in focus

The BULTEX 99 Logistics Centre in Radinovo is a clear example of these challenges. BULTEX 99 is a Bulgarian business boasting over 28 years in operation, all the while supplying personal protective equipment to 24,000 clients across 22 shops.

When the company’s logistics site expanded, the requirements were significant: a 270,000 square foot facility comprising three primary warehouses with high-density racking storage holding large volumes of flammable material, plus offices, a showroom, a screen-printing area and ancillary spaces. All required protection under a single managed system.

MCM Engineering, a company that has worked with Hochiki for over 20 years now, carried out the installation programme. The company specified Hochiki’s ESP intelligent range connected to the Latitude fire control panel, with 350 addressable devices installed across the site.

The choice of open protocol was deliberate. As Georgi Georgiev from MCM Engineering explained, the project required multiple solutions across a large and complex facility. Open protocol technology allowed third party products to be included within the system without additional cost or complexity.

The warehouse racking created a specific problem. The racking structure blocked lines of sight between detectors, which increases the risk of false alarms. False alarms in a working logistics facility mean operations stop unnecessarily, which then costs the business time and money.

Hochiki’s FIREbeam Xtra addressable beam detector solved this issue. By positioning detectors and reflectors along the corridors between the racking, MCM Engineering achieved full coverage across all open spaces and walkways. The addressable connection back to the Latitude panel makes the completed system straightforward to manage and maintain on an ongoing basis.

Future expansion

The installed system affords BULTEX 99 centralised fire detection that’s simple to monitor, reliable and built to accommodate and support the future growth of the business.

That final point is important for any specifier working on Bulgarian projects at the present time. A system designed only for the current building is not enough when the client’s business is growing.

Bulgaria’s construction activity is not a short-term development. The factors driving investment here (ie EU membership, Eurozone stability, improving infrastructure and a skilled workforce) are well established. The buildings being specified now will be in use for a long time to come. For system designers in Bulgaria, the practical conclusion is straightforward: ‘Specify for where the facility is going, not only where it is today.’

Hochiki Europe has been active in the Bulgarian market for over 30 years, working with partners such as Sectron Bulgaria since the early days of its operations in the region. The depth of Hochiki’s installer relationships and its experience of how Bulgarian projects are structured and delivered means that the company is well placed to support the range of upcoming work.

Petia Simeonova is Regional Sales Manager for Hochiki Europe (www.hochikieurope.com)