Fire alarm systems are the kind of thing that sit in the background of everyone’s day to day lives. Whether at school, work or public buildings, there is a system installed to alert the you to a potential Fire and help you escape at the earliest opportunity.
At C.I. Fire & Security we specialise in Fire Alarms systems, For 35 years we have designed, installed and maintained systems all over the island from private homes to schools and hospitals, these systems range from as simple as 10 detectors to the most complex with 3000+ detectors.
Using the latest technologies from the likes of Kentec, Hochiki, EMS and Honeywell, wired or wireless, we can find a system to suit your requirements.
We work with Consulting Engineers, States of Jersey Fire & Rescue and direct with the end users and clients. We can provide the full package of Design, Installation, Commissioning and Maintenance to meet the latest BS5839 standards all backed up by quality assurance from a BAFE accredited company.
With dedicated staff fully trained across all areas, you can be sure that the service and advice given for your system will be second to none.
BAFE is an organisation that promotes and audits Fire Alarm companies to ensure they are carrying out work in the Fire Alarm industry to meet the exacting standards of BS5839. This is a voluntary association to join as a company and once joined we, as a company, are audited every 6 months by an inspector from the UK to ensure that we continue to meet the highest of standards.
In some cases you won’t. For a domestic only fire alarm system with no fire alarm panel then these detectors can be tested once a month by pressing the test button on the detector. For systems with a panel it is recommended, or if you have a fire certificate issued by the States of Jersey Fire & Rescue then required under law, to have a maintenance contract where the system is 100% tested every year with inspections not more than 6 months apart. This is because the panel has batteries that can fail, the devices can get contaminated and become slow to respond, building layouts in commercial premises can often change which may impede the operation of the system. All of these things are checked during services.
A HMO is an acronym for House of Multiple Occupation. In Jersey HMOs that do not comply with Building Bye-Laws 2007 or later are legally required to have a fire certificate issue by the State of Jersey Fire & Recuse Service. They will come and do a survey which will give you the requirements needed to achieve the certificate. A flow chart whether your property require a certificate and other useful information can be found here
Manual Call Point – or break glass point as some people commonly refer to them. The red boxes you see on the wall that usually say something like break glass to activate. Nowadays in newer installations they are not glass but plastic inserts that are resettable.
Fire alarm systems are designed in varying levels of categories. The L stands for a design that primary purpose is to protect Life, a lot of our clients will see LD2 on paperwork they receive from the Fire Service, this means a Life protecting system in a domestic property. The number dictates how widespread the detectors are, for instance L4 - just escape routes, L3 – Escape routes and rooms leading directly onto them, L2 – same as L3 but with defined areas of high risk protected as well, maybe a boiler room, L1 – absolutely everywhere. Every cupboard, room, escape route, everywhere. The level of system you need is usually decided by a fire risk assessment.
An ARC is an alarm receiving centre. It is a usually UK based company that will receive signals from your systems, be it Fire, Security, CCTV or Intruder and will then relay these messages onto a list of Keyholders that are nominated by you the customer. Once a keyholder has been reached responsibility of the alarm signal is passed onto them. ARC can happily receive signals from any of our systems. There is an annual charge for this service depending on number of signals.