The high test

The importance of a working fire detection system requires no justification. Simply put, they exist to save lives and property and allow people to go about their daily routines with the peace of mind that they are in a safe environment.

If the fire detection system has cause to alarm, it is a serious matter – the building needs to be evacuated! In many buildings of one or two storeys, this is fairly straightforward. However tall buildings mean more floors, more people, and possibly less time to evacuate open-plan spaces and the masses of people heading towards fire escapes. If early detection of a fire is vital in a building of one two floors, it becomes even more crucial in a tall building – with more people to alert to fire and evacuate safely from the premises.

All of the above is common knowledge, however the factors that go into making this possible can still, sometimes, be overlooked – putting the building and its occupants at risk. For example, for the fire detection system to work it needs to be functionally tested – regularly and in accordance with standards. Vital in all buildings, but particularly in tall buildings where there are naturally more detectors to test. All detectors should be tested – regardless of location or type. Without this testing there can be no guarantee that the system will activate in event of a fire – effectively putting the lives of occupants at significant risk.

Almost without exception, most tall buildings will include at least one lift. Following British Standards, the lift shafts that house these lifts should include some form of fire detection – commonly this is a smoke detector mounted at the top of the shaft. This of course, makes complete sense, the shaft is effectively a chimney that, in the event of a fire, would provide a space for the fire to quickly develop and spread at pace across many floors. Whilst it may seem obvious that such a space would have suitable protection from fire, testing the detector is naturally a lot harder – with access to the shaft required which can often mean additional time, disruption and personnel is needed. Neither the building owner nor the maintenance company want to take on the additional cost associated with the extra personnel, and the building owner will be under pressure to ensure the flow of people around the building is not disrupted.

With factors such as these making functional testing a challenge, it is often the case that detectors installed in hard to access areas such as lift shafts can regularly be left untested. We must question why this is so easily acceptable within the industry?

Escape routes

Most buildings with lifts will include some form of signage which points out ‘Do not use lift in the event of fire’, again this may seem obvious – but if there is a fire in the lift shaft and the fire detection is not working – how would occupants even know there was a fire? An extreme example, but something that could happen – after all, that’s why the detector was installed in the first place. The stairways are the emergency escape route, and fire detection here is critical to prevent people being trapped in the building. However, fire detectors installed in stairways are often installed at significant heights and/or within a ceiling void. Accessing these can also be problematic which again can mean testing is over-looked.

A variation to the maintenance schedule agreed between all parties is all that is needed to postpone the testing for another year. How would the occupants i.e. our “customers” feel knowing their safety may be compromised for the sake of a small cost saving?

Several high-profile fires in tall buildings has pushed the fire protection and detection within these type of buildings into greater focus. As a result, all aspects of their construction and refurbishment, and each element of the fire protection are under greater scrutiny, with a wider audience looking at how the building is protected and maintained. As a result of this focus, the idea of leaving any form of fire detection untested is a risk neither the building owner nor maintenance company wants to take. In the event of a fire, they need to be sure that everything possible has been done to ensure the fire detection system is functioning correctly.

Of course, technology and new solutions have a role to play here to ensure testing of fire detectors is as easy as possible. For over 25 years, the Solo range of test equipment has provided a fast and reliable method for testing smoke, heat and CO detectors. The famous red pole based system enables testing of detectors in buildings world-wide at heights up to nine metres. In more recent years, this has been joined by Testifire – which makes functional testing even more productive by combining the ability to test smoke and heat from an all-in-one tester. Whilst, these solutions can be used to test all fire detectors, they do require physical access to the detector. In the case of a detector in a lift shaft or ceiling void, of course the Solo and Testifire solutions could be used – but only after access is gained – which attracts the various negative points mentioned earlier. Further technical solutions such as Scorpion, means that detectors installed in hard-to-access locations – such as lift shafts – can be easily tested, without the need for direct access. With the attention fire safety in tall buildings is now receiving, there has been a rapid uptake in such solutions – with buildings such as universities, care homes and office blocks moving quickly to ensure that all detectors in the building are capable of being easily tested. This is something that has been supported by the 2017 update to BS:5839-1:

“For remotely situated or hard-to-access detection equipment, consideration needs to be given to the feasibility of testing and maintenance at the design stage.” (BS5839-1 2017, 22.1)

Of course, a solution such as Scorpion still requires access to be installed – but this cost and inconvenience is minimised when the Scorpion is included as part of the design (in accordance with BS5839), and installed at the same time as the smoke detector. Once installed, it remains in the hard-to-access location (lift shaft, ceiling void) for the 10-year lifetime of the detector. Essentially this means testing of the detector can be carried out as part of the routine maintenance visit, without the need for direct access and the negative cost and personnel aspects that would previously have been associated with testing.

Portable test kit

The solution does not just benefit detectors in lift shafts and ceiling voids. Many tall buildings will have a number of rooms which are hard-to-access. Office blocks may have secure areas like IT server rooms, universities may have lecture theatres that cannot always be easily accessed – the list goes on.

It’s not just detectors in hard-to-access locations that can prove a challenge in tall buildings. The sheer number of detectors within such a building can, itself, often prove a challenge. This is when having the right equipment to hand, in a format that can be easily transported makes a massive difference to productivity. In situations like this, having a compact and portable test kit capable of testing smoke and heat detectors becomes a far more practical option – eliminating the need to carry multiple tools around site, from floor to floor and ensuring no time is wasted switching between head units.

Use of on-demand smoke, generated from non-pressurised cartridges, can also be an advantage. Smoke aerosols, at times, can be over applied leading to repeat alarms and ultimately a longer overall test period. Repeated across multiple detectors on a large floor, this could become a major annoyance to those trying to work around the test engineer. Mobility is also a key factor when moving around tall buildings, carrying endless amount of kit around in an over the shoulder bag is not only hard on the engineer – but can also be disruptive for the building occupants. Specialist kits now exist which are built around a compact rucksack and smaller range of telescopic access poles – such kits are perfect for moving around large sites and provide an easy method of transporting the essential kit needed for detector testing.

With the demand for housing and commercial premises continue to grow, the development of further tall buildings is set to continue long into the future. There is no doubt these buildings present a greater challenge in terms of fire protection and detection, however, with the solutions now available and greater focus being placed on the adoption of such solutions, there is no reason why the testing and maintenance of fire detectors within tall buildings should be something that is viewed as problematic.

Solutions exist that make it possible for all fire detectors to be functionally tested – it is therefore reasonable to expect all fire detectors to tested - regardless of type, regardless of location.

Stephen Beadle is marcomms manager at Detectortesters. For more information, visit www.detectortesters.com