It is very common practice..........passcodes make sure authorized people are involved during emergencies and they also prevent the educated arsonist from disabling an alarm system or component (which makes their task MUCH easier).
I'm confused, if the alarm activates and the Audio/Visual appliances are sounding the evacuation signals, who is left inside the protected premises to initiate the call to the alarm company to cancel the alarm. In addition, how can one be completely sure that all areas have been investigated as to causation of the alarm activation?
Passcodes are common on security systems, however I was led to believe that they are not permitted on fire protective systems.
Wait a minute......he said the passcode is required to cancel an alarm AFTER it has activated. This is very common & makes perfect sense; if it is a false alarm, the authorized employees can make the call to the alarm company. If it is a true emergency, evacuate the facility and let the professional fire fighters resolve the problem and cancel the alarm.
You can contact the alarm company using a cell phone or the telephone at an adjacent building if needed; the call does not need to originate from the "protected premises".
A little gray, so let me see if I can clear things a bit. Is the use of a passcode to cancel a fire alarm activation permitted? Years ago I believe NFPA discussed this and it was the concensus that passcodes are not permitted on life safety alarms.
The rationale as I understand it is that the priority at the time of activation is the evacuation of the premises. How can one assist in the evacuation or better yet evacuate themselves and still then be able to determine the location and the causation of an alarm.
Much different than a security alarm. You can get robbed a dozen times......you'll only burn down but once.
I am not sure if you are getting terms mixed up or how a fire alarm functions mixed up??
""Is the use of a passcode to cancel a fire alarm activation permitted""
it was in the pass and there are still legal systems out there now. I do not see password keypads used much anymore.
would have to check
""better yet evacuate themselves and still then be able to determine the location and the causation of an alarm"""
well depending on the type of business most are told to get out of the builing and let the fire department find out of there is a problem.
now in a hospital or certain other types of businesses they do go find out if there is a prblem, but if thier fire alarm system had a passcode they do not need it to find out what the problem is.
what do you do for a living and how how are you invovled with fire alarm systems??? this may help answer your question better
My chosen profession....I am a working fire official in the State of New Jersey, have been in the business for over 26 years. I am quite comfortable with how fire alarm/fire protective equipment operates and actions that maybe taken during emergencies, especially health care facilities. It's called protect in place. Horizontally evacuating to an area of refuge.
The reason I ask is that years ago I believe that NFPA spoke to passcodes being used with life safety systems. I think NFPA did not permit such an action. It seems that more times than not, monitoring companies are calling the protected premises and getting verbal passcodes and then attempting to cancel a response. That's my concern. Is it addressed anywhere in NFPA?
We sometimes run into that and will tell the business that the first call from the business or monitoring company will be to the fire department, then they can call whoever they want.
we have recently gone to if we are dispatched and monitoring company calls back and cancels we will also cancel. I do not agree with that policy though.
NFPA 72 does not regulate the owner’s responsibility to re-set alarms or cancel them with exception of access to and the security of the re-setting function on the FACP. The majority of fire alarm and detection systems that are monitored off site have owner or designated representative pass codes or typically the account number for disabling the system’s transmission of signals function for whatever needs including testing, service and of course cancelling an alarm.
The responsibility still lies with the system owner and they assume any potential liability when they re-set an alarm or advocate the cancelling of an initiated alarm before the FD arrives. Facility education is important aspect in the potential reduction of the risk when this type of behavior is historic with a facility. If it’s a case where the facility does not want citations for numbers of false alarms, there are means to address that problem and gain documentations to address the reasons for the false calls to reduce the problem in future incidents.
I emailed a question to NFPA regarding this concern and here is the response.
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NFPA 72?-2010, National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code™, Chapter 26, covers the requirements for the performance, installation, and operation of fire alarm systems at a continuously attended supervising station and between the protected premises and the continuously attended supervising station and the various transmission technologies available.
Section 26.3 provides the requirements for alarm systems for central station service, Section 26.4 for proprietary supervising station systems and Section 26.5 for remote supervising station alarm systems.
Section 26.3.7 provides for the disposition of signals from a protected premises to a central station. These include: Section 26.3.7.1, alarm signals; Section 26.3.7.2, guard’s tour supervisory signals; Section 26.3.7.3, supervisory signals; Section 26.3.7.4, trouble signals and Section 26.3.7.5, test signals. For alarm signals, Section 26.3.7.1.2 requires the central station perform the following actions: (1) Immediately retransmit the alarm to the communications center, (2) Dispatch a runner or technician to the protected premises, (3) Immediately notify the subscriber and (4) Provide notice to the subscriber or authority having jurisdiction, or both, if required. Note exception due to a prearranged test. No other exception is provided for a pass code or password. Unique personal identification codes are provided for test signals only as permitted by Sections 26.3.7.5, 26.3.7.5.5 and 26.3.7.5.6.
The requirements for disposition of signals from remote supervising station alarm systems are much more relaxed. Refer to Section 26.5.5. This section enables the alarm signal to be transmitted directly to the communications center. Further, if the remote supervising station is at a location other than the communications center, alarm signals must be immediately retransmitted to the communications center. Again, for alarm, there is no exception for pass codes or passwords.
Important Notice! This correspondence is not a Formal Interpretation issued pursuant to NFPA Regulations. Any opinion expressed is the personal opinion of the author, and does not necessarily represent the official position of the NFPA or its Technical Committees. In addition, this correspondence is neither intended, nor should be relied upon, to provide professional consultation or services.
