When it comes to securing your home or business, few devices provide as much value as fire detection. After all, devices that alert you to a fire can save your property, and even your life! For this reason, we certainly recommend installing this equipment. Moreover, we also have very specific recommendations for how and where to add this valuable security. Some of these suggestions have to do with local and national requirements. Additionally, some of them stem from our own ideas based on experience. In today’s post, we share some of most important fire detection installation recommendations.
First, we’ll spend some time on meeting minimum fire detection coverage. These minimums stem from both national and local guidelines. Having a grasp of how we determine minimum required coverage will give you a great base for understanding the rest of the material presented here. From there, we’ll look at some non-required, but important recommended fire detection. This will include identifying areas of particular danger within your property. Additionally, we’ll also focus on creating important life safety with equipment that we can install for you. Now, let’s dive in with a look at minimum code requirements for fire detection equipment!
Meeting Minimum Code Requirements
Both regional and national codes and regulations help shape the fire alarm requirements we must follow when installing both commercial and residential fire security. Both of these types of applications have minimum installation requirements driven by current fire code. Fire codes give us guidelines for installation techniques as well as device placement. At the very least, we recommend that every application we work with have a system of fire detection that meets the minimum fire detection installation requirements established by the code. When we work with business and homeowners to install fire devices, we always make sure this happens. In this section, we’ll explain how we find and meet minimum code requirements!
States create their fire alarm regulations largely based on the guidelines found in the NFPA 72 fire alarm code.
Commercial Alarm Requirements
Commercial fire detection represents one of the most widely-regulated areas of our industry. The International Business Code (or “IBC”) sorts businesses into classification “groups.” Certain groups of businesses always require monitored fire detection. In other instances, factors such as a building’s size and capacity come into play as well. From there, the National Fire Alarm and Signal Code and National Electric Code created by the National Fire Protection Association (or “NFPA 72” and “NFPA 70”, respectively) creates guidelines as to how security companies must install and monitor these systems. Furthermore, each state often creates their own legal requirements for fire alarm installation and monitoring, with our state’s code found here.
While the type of business you have determines whether you need a fire alarm, and where to put some equipment, certain guidelines almost always come into play. For starters, every exterior exit should have a manual pull station installed nearby. This allows anyone fleeing a potential fire threat to manually activate the alarm and call for help. Additionally, we must install these devices within 200 feet of each other if exit locations do not make this happen on their own.
We must also install strobes and horn strobes to provide blinking light and blaring horn responses to any alarm. We must install strobes in every restroom, and horn strobes in common areas at locations sufficient to properly notify occupants to a fire. From there, we take any additional requirements created by your specific type of size of business and add those as well. Just like businesses, homes also have minimum code coverage. Let’s take a look at those now!
Residential Smoke Alarm Code
Unlike with commercial fire detection, you do not have to monitor the detection that you install in a home. However, we strongly recommend taking this additional measure. After all, non-monitored smoke and carbon monoxide detection does not call out for help. Obviously, you’d want a fire department response to a fire that occurs in your absence. More importantly, monitored fire detection in your home can even safe a life if a fire or carbon monoxide leaks happens while someone is home. The NFPA 72 contains required minimum locations for residential fire equipment. However, the fire code does not represent a “blanket” set of requirements. Instead, these regulations change based on the age of the house. As fire codes tightened, builders have had to design homes with new regulations in mind.
First up, 1975 represented the introduction of a national fire code. This code stated that homeowners must install a smoke alarm or detector in each of the following areas in homes built before 1975:
- Every “habitable” level of the house. This means a finished attic would need an alarm, for example.
- In the basement.
- At the top and bottom of every staircase.
- On the ceiling outside of every sleeping area.
- In common areas of two-family dwellings.
Additionally, homes built in 1975 or later also had the requirements of an interconnected set of alarms/detectors. This means that when one device sounds, so do all the others. Finally, homes built in 1975 or later must have one alarm or detector per 1,200 square feet of living space. As far as later changes go, 1997 also introduced a major code addition. Houses built in this year going forward also require alarms or detectors installed inside of every bedroom. 2006 saw our state add the requirement of CO detection installed on each floor of a home near sleeping areas. Finally, the 2008 version of NFPA 72 added the requirement of heat detection in attached garages. Now that you have a grasp of minimum fire device coverage for both businesses and homes, let’s look into fire detection installation recommendations that go above and beyond!
Adding Additional Detection
Bedrooms represent the most important areas of your home to add life safety.
As you see, a lot can go into making sure businesses and homes have the legally-required detection that they need. Moreover, many customers also ask for additional equipment above and beyond the bare minimum required by law. As long as we’ve installed a full system of required smoke detection, we can always add additional detection as added security. We often call this “spot” detection, as we choose extra spots to add detectors. In this section, we share some fire detection installation recommendations dealing with this added security.
Areas of Unique Concern
In addition to your required fire detection, you should also consider adding equipment in the most vulnerable areas of your property. For example, areas that store electrical systems and flammable liquids should have smoke detection nearby. Additionally, consider installing CO detection in areas that lend themselves to the presence of carbon monoxide. In our industry, we include CO detection as part of the fire detection “umbrella,” and can even install detectors that detect the presence of both smoke and carbon monoxide. In businesses this includes loading docks, boiler rooms, and areas with HVAC equipment. Inside homes, we recommend CO detection in basements, which usually store most if not all of the equipment that puts you at risk for CO exposure. Additionally, installing CO detection outside your garage can ensure that any carbon monoxide leaking into the home gets caught as well.
Creating Life Safety
In addition to assessing the greatest risk of fire and CO-related emergencies, we also want to focus on installing devices in places that add life safety. This tip rings most true in a home, where people are often asleep during these events. As we mentioned, houses built after 1997 require smoke detection in bedrooms. We also strongly suggest that you add this detection regardless of the age of your home. Additionally, installing CO detection in any areas where people might drift off to sleep adds tremendous life safety. For example, living rooms, reading areas, and other popular napping locations make great spots to add these detectors. Making sure that these events wake up anyone in the house adds tremendous life safety and peace of mind.
Putting our Fire Detection Installation Recommendations to Work for You
We hope that our fire detection installation recommendations help you better secure your own home or business. Additionally, we also encourage you to contact us with any questions this post may raise for you. We will happily answer any and all of your security-related inquiries. Furthermore, we also invite you to take advantage of our free site survey program. We offer complimentary security audits and equipment quotes to both new and existing customers alike. Over our 36-plus years in business, we’ve helped over a thousand customers add valuable fire security. We’d love to work with you to create a system of fire detection equipment that makes your property as safe and secure as possible!