Fire prevention systems – you get what you pay for

Life safety systems, such as fire detection systems, perform one of the most valuable of building services – they save lives in the event of an emergency. Their importance is such that they are heavily regulated, with standards relating to product design and manufacture, system design, and installation. No reputable organisation readily opts for a fire detection system that doesn’t meet these standards; the results could literally be fatal. However, specifying or installing a fire detection system, or even elements of that system, that meets all the standards, but errs towards the cheaper end of the product spectrum, can bring its own set of problems, and may well find you paying a higher price one way or another. Here, we look at key aspects of fire detection systems that are impacted when you cut corners and opt for low-cost, lowquality product.

Detection algorithms

An algorithm is a set of instructions designed to perform a specific task. It takes input and changes the data according to the preset ‘instructions’ to create an output. In fire detectors, that input includes smoke and non-combustion products such as steam, aerosols, and dust. The sophisticated part of the process is to identify and differentiate these, and only activate the sounder in the presence of smoke. If the sounder is activated when only non-combustion products are being emitted, then that is a false alarm.