Fire alarm installation is a basic need of every premise and is a statutory requirement too. Moreover, meeting this safety need helps you protect the inhabitants of a property in the event of fire. You can only claim insurance for fire damage if you meet all the basic fire safety requirements mentioned in the insurance contract. In this blog post, we are going to discuss what type of wires are used in Fire Alarm Installation London.

What type of cables are used while installing fire alarms?

Two types of cables are particularly used for smoke alarm installation. One is the Standard cable and the other one is the enhanced cable. Both the wires are designed to meet British Standards 8434-1 and 8434-2. These are fire-resistant cables and they are used for wiring sensor circuits and manual call points.

Where to Use Standard and Enhanced Fire Resistant Cables?

Every premise has a different fire-resistant cable need. The standard wires are generally used in one-out all-out fire plans whereas enhanced fire cables are used in spaces where there are continuous communications during fire incidents. Below, we have listed the spaces where enhanced fire-resistant cables should be used.

• Unsprinklered buildings where the fire evacuation plan is carried out in 4 different phases.
• Unsprinklered building with a height of more than 30 meters.
• Locations where fire can create serious damage to the critical path of cables.
• Where the use of enhanced cables is the basic need identified through fire risk assessment London.

Fire alarm installation London: What are its wiring requirements?

Below, we have mentioned the basic cable requirements for the installation of fire alarm systems.

• The core size of the wire should not be less than 1mm
• Fire-resistant cables must not use the same trough
• The outer covering of the cable should be red in colour or any other colour approved by the building plan.
• There shouldn’t be any electromagnetic interference from circuits with low voltage. To ensure this thing, call an electrician London.
• Fire cables used must be segregated from the rest of the services.
• There must not be any cable joints apart from the ones in the components.

Testing and inspection of fire alarm wiring

Before you start using the fire alarm, it is important to test the working of these cables through an insulation test. An insulation value of 2 Mohm must be visible in the test results. Follow BS7671 and perform an earth continuity test on the main supply circuits. The effective resistance of the circuits must be recorded to ensure that it is meeting the recommendations of the manufacturer.

So, this was all about the two types of cables used in the installation of fire alarm systems i.e., standard and enhanced fire-resistant cables, their wiring requirements and their testing and inspection.

FAQs

How are smoke detectors wired together?

An electrical engineer interconnects smoke detectors using a three-way switch i.e., white, red and black wires. For the interconnection of detectors just take red wires from both the alarms and connect them.

What are the different types of fire alarms?

There are 3 types of fire alarms. Addressable fire alarms, non-addressable fire alarms and radio alarms.