Fire Alarm Systems 101

The goal of the course is to understand the different aspects that make up a fire alarm system. We'll go over the history of how fire alarm systems came to be, the historical events that shaped how codes changed through the years for fire alarm systems. It is important to understand the different types of fire alarm systems and how to apply the correct type for your project. We’ll go into the code sections that you should be reviewing and understand that, depending on the location of your project, the local Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) may have some code excerpts that go above standard code minimum.

We’ll also talk about the different types of sub-systems that you will encounter for various occupancy types, help understand the difference between a temproal-3 pattern fire alarm system and a voice fire alarm system, along with many other components that make a fire alarm system a fire alarm system. The course also touches on the survivability levels of the fire alarm system cabling / infrastructure and the different types of off-site reporting that is required for every fire alarm system.

All topics are high level and designed to help point you in the right direction on where to start when designing your fire alarm projects.