From Risk to Resilience: Upgrading Fire Alarm Systems for Safer Buildings
by Suzanne Alfano, Executive Director, Canadian Fire Alarm Association (CFAA), Kat Nicholas, President, Fire Protection Association of British Columbia (FPABC) and Frank Kurz, Executive Director, The Fire Technicians Network
This is a “call to action” moment to advocate with fire authorities, building owners, and stakeholders across the country for upgrading three-wire unsupervised fire alarm systems installed in multi-family residential buildings.
The City of North Vancouver’s Fire Department committed to an intensive community-focused process that evaluated the risks to life and property in buildings that employed unsupervised three-wire type fire alarm systems. The resulting Life Safety Upgrade Bylaw stands as an example of the kind of innovative leadership jurisdictions across Canada should adopt and implement. Dave Owens, Deputy Fire Chief for the City of North Vancouver, shares the excellent work done by his city in this edition of the CFAA Journal.
There are many of these systems still in use across Canada. It is imperative that owners of older buildings (and their insurers) formulate strategies for upgrading their fire alarm systems to keep everyone safe and stay ahead of potential catastrophic equipment failures. More importantly, we must discuss the “end-of-life” for three-wire unsupervised fire alarm systems as many still in service are over fifty years old!
From a purely practical standpoint, many fire alarm technicians across Canada may not have adequate training on how to properly test these fire alarm systems (it’s more detailed and time consuming than you might think).
Does this situation seem safe to you?
Would you want to live in a building with one of these three-wire unsupervised fire alarm systems protecting your home and family?
The Provincial/Territorial Building and Fire Codes in Canada are not retroactive unless expressly amended by the Provincial and/or local Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) via either a Bulletin or local Bylaw. In an occupied building, the National Fire Code of Canada (as adopted in your jurisdiction) mandates the maintenance and testing requirements of the building life safety systems and equipment in Division B Section 6.
While older supervised fire alarm systems may fail at some point and would normally expect that an indication appears on the control unit signaling that its operation may be compromised. This does not manifest on many older three-wire unsupervised systems, and the scheduled annual fire alarm inspection is often the only way the building’s occupants discover this equipment is non-functional!
The testing requirements in ULC 536:2019/2024 include a MONTHLY testing component and separate report form (Section 24). Where three-wire fire alarm systems (in particular) are installed, CFAA technicians must proactively engage with the building owner’s representative(s) to demonstrate how to perform (and document) this critically important testing.
We should also recognize that equipment failures aren’t limited to older systems (they can manifest in modern or newly installed systems as well). Audible trouble buzzers, for example, can suddenly stop working and, moreover, this could occur in the middle of an annual inspection (or during the Verification of a new system). In a recently filed report by a technician commissioning a Fire Signal Receiving Centre transmitter installation, the fire alarm system’s “trouble” and “supervisory” relays suddenly stopped working. While these examples of new equipment failures are rare, they clearly demonstrate the importance of performing (and following) the proper testing and inspection protocols detailed in the Standards.
There are also instances where some limited form of operation can occur when a supervised fire alarm system is compromised (i.e. where the signaling circuit employs in-suite signaling isolators, only the shorted devices within the affected suite will be non-functional while the sounders in the other suites will continue to operate). It is important to note that there will still be a local trouble indication at the fire alarm control when this kind of fault occurs.
The following table illustrates the operational differences between a three-wire unsupervised system and a modern supervised fire alarm system. It also clearly demonstrates why we are advocating for these three-wire systems to be upgraded as they are past their useful lifespan.
Many three-wire unsupervised fire alarm systems are installed in older low-rise residential buildings. We do not have Canadian statistics on how many of these older systems are currently in use today. The City of Victoria, British Columbia, is reported to have over 300 three-wire unsupervised fire alarm systems still in operation. We do know that over 70% of all fires occur in residential homes (and most occur in single family dwellings that do not have a commercial fire alarm system). Our focus in this article has been three-wire unsupervised fire alarm systems in multi-unit apartments and condominiums which have increased risk factors that must be considered.
Statistics across North America tell us that, although the number of fire incidents have been steadily declining over the last 40 years, the number of deaths, injuries and property damage has risen.
The in-suite smoke alarm and a functional supervised building fire alarm system are considered the first line-of-defense during a fire emergency in residential multi-unit buildings. They provide critical early detection of a fire and notification to the occupants. The time needed for safe evacuations from buildings and homes has been significantly reduced because building materials and contents such as furnishings are made of more flammable materials than in the past. Retrofitting older residential buildings to add sprinklers can sometimes be cost prohibitive. When properly installed, serviced, tested, and maintained, a modern upgraded fire alarm system can reduce smoke and fire-related deaths and injuries in Canada. CFAA technicians remain committed to these principles. The CFAA and the FPABC will continue to foster industry-wide engagement and the educational initiatives that supports their members and the public.
CFAA will be forming a Task Force of members, technicians, AHJs and other stakeholders to further this discussion on fire alarm system “end-of-life” concerns and provide recommendations that we will share with communities across Canada. If you are interested in participating, please reach out to us at info@cfaa.ca.
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