Working and Design Documentation for Fire and Security Alarm Systems

As a result, working design documentation for the fire and security alarm devices of the shopping complex has been produced.

Fire alarm system design project

Fire Alarm System Design. Project and Estimate Documentation

Control Panel for the Shopping Complex

In this project, the control panel equipment of an addressable analog fire alarm system is used. A management terminal for the main panel and linear modules for 4 addressable lines with 127 addresses each (4 sets) are installed in the security dispatcher's room on the 1st floor of the designed shopping complex building. An operational terminal is installed in the dispatch room of an existing building with permanent staff presence. According to fire safety standards, the control panel is installed at a height of at least 1.5 meters from the floor in a specially designated room.

Fire alarm system project

Power supply for the fire alarm system equipment is provided according to 1st category reliability from two independent, mutually redundant power sources. An interruption in their power supply, if one source fails, is only permitted for the time of automatic power restoration, for which an automatic transfer switch panel is used. The device automatically switches from the 220 V network to the backup source and back when the network is disconnected and restored. The backup battery capacity must provide power to the technical means of the alarm system for 24 hours in standby mode and at least 3 hours in alarm mode.

Equipment Grounding

According to the state standard specified in the design documentation, the device must be grounded. Grounding of the device must be carried out in accordance with the Electrical Installation Code and the manufacturer's technical documentation for this equipment. The resistance value between the grounding contact and the grounding loop should not exceed 0.05 Ohms. The alarm system has the following functions:

  • Reliable and fast activation of fire detectors.
  • Determining the exact location of a fire using the detector's address in the shopping complex.
  • Continuous diagnostics of all system elements, including peripheral ones, as well as monitoring the integrity of the loops. In case of a break or short circuit in the loop, the system indicates the exact location of the fault between specific detectors, isolates it, and continues to function normally, thanks to the loop's ring structure.
  • Automatic display on the LCD screen of the group name and the name of the zone or location of the activated detector.
  • Clear display of operational information about the system status and the status of the shopping complex.
  • Registration and archiving (printout) of events, object status, equipment status, and personnel actions with timestamps.
  • Can manage four ring lines, with the possibility of expansion up to 16 ring detection lines.
  • Supports up to 1,000 devices.
  • To provide easy access to the system, up to 16 panels, terminals, and gateways can be combined into a peer-to-peer network. All management and retrieval of any information is possible from a single workstation.

Fire detection system project

The operational terminal provides easy access to the fire detection system without using the main fire control panel. It is installed in an existing dispatch room and connected to the main control panel via a LON bus (maximum 32 devices on the bus). Using a standard software package and a management interface, it is possible to organize information processing on a computer.

For monitoring and managing the system on the floors, repeater panels are used, which are connected to the common LON bus. All fire alarm devices are connected by a SynoLOOP ring loop of detectors (maximum 128 addresses). In accordance with fire safety standards, for building floor heights from 3.5 m to 6.0 m as per the drawings, alarm system detectors are used.

Addressable Detectors

Optical smoke addressable detectors are spaced 8.5 meters apart and 4 meters from the wall; the area monitored by one detector is up to 70 sq. meters. In rooms of the shopping complex with a width of less than 3 meters, or under raised floors, or above suspended ceilings, and in other spaces with a height of less than 1.7 m, the distance between smoke detectors is allowed to be increased by 1.5 times the standard distance.

Heat addressable detectors are spaced 4.5 meters apart and 2 meters from the wall; the area monitored by one detector is up to 20 sq. meters.

Manual addressable call points. Manual call points are installed one by one along evacuation routes, in corridors, halls, lobbies, at building exits, on stairwells of each floor at a height of 1.5 meters from the floor level. The distance between manual call points is no more than 50 meters.

Detectors are installed after the installation of luminaires. Detectors are installed on the ceiling at a distance of no less than 0.5 meters from the luminaires. According to fire safety standards, with parallel open laying, the distance between wires and cables of fire alarm loops and connecting lines and power and lighting wires must be at least 0.5 meters.

Fire Alarm Network

The fire alarm network, according to the design solutions, is implemented with cable for the ring alarm loop and cable for the backbone:

  • In corrugated vinyl plastic pipes with a diameter of 25 mm and in a cable duct with a cross-section of 20x12.5 mm behind the suspended ceiling.
  • In steel electric-welded pipes with a diameter of 26 mm in the raised floor and underground parking lot, openly along the ceiling and walls of the shopping complex.
  • In corrugated vinyl plastic pipes with a diameter of 32 mm behind the suspended ceiling in the dispatch room of the existing building.
  • In a cable duct with a cross-section of 20x12.5 mm for drops to manual fire call points.
  • Partially openly along the ceiling and walls.

Installation work by a specialized organization must be carried out in accordance with the working document. Maintenance of the control panel and fire alarm detectors must be performed in accordance with the manufacturer's technical documentation for this equipment.

Control of Automatic Fire Extinguishing Systems

If the fire alarm system is intended to control automatic fire extinguishing systems, smoke removal, and fire notification systems, then the maximum distance between duplicate smoke or heat fire detectors is equal to half the standard one defined in the fire safety regulations.

In each protected room or compartment of the shopping complex, at least 2 automatic fire detectors are installed.

In accordance with fire safety regulations, one fire detector may be installed in a protected room or zone if the following conditions are simultaneously met:

  • The area of the room is not larger than the area protected by the fire detector specified in its technical documentation, and not larger than the average area specified in the regulatory tables.
  • Automatic monitoring of the fire detector's performance is provided, confirming its functionality with the issuance of a fault signal to the control panel.
  • Identification of the faulty detector by the control panel is ensured.
  • A signal from the fire detector does not generate a command to start control equipment that activates automatic fire extinguishing systems, smoke removal systems, or type 5 fire notification systems.

Additionally, the possibility of replacing the detector within the established time must be ensured.

According to design standards, point fire detectors are installed, as a rule, under the ceiling. If it is impossible to install detectors directly under the ceiling, their installation on walls, columns, and other load-bearing building structures of the shopping complex is allowed, as well as mounting on wires.

When installing point fire detectors under the ceiling, they should be placed at a distance from the walls of at least 0.1 m. When installing point fire detectors on walls, they should be placed at a distance of at least 0.1 m from the corner of the walls and at a distance from 0.1 to 0.3 m from the ceiling, including the dimensions of the detector.

Point smoke and heat fire detectors should be installed in each ceiling compartment with a width of 0.75 m or more, limited by building structures, beams, purlins, slab ribs protruding from the ceiling at a distance of more than 0.4 m.

If building structures protrude from the ceiling at a distance of more than 0.4 m, and the compartments they form are less than 0.75 m wide, the area monitored by fire detectors, specified in the regulatory tables, is reduced by 40%. In the presence of protruding parts on the ceiling from 0.08 to 0.4 m, the area monitored by fire detectors is reduced by 25%.

If there are ducts, technological platforms with a width of 0.75 m or more in the controlled room, having a solid structure, with the lower mark lagging from the ceiling at a distance of more than 0.4 m and at least 1.3 m from the floor plane, fire detectors must be additionally installed under them.

In accordance with regulations, spaces behind suspended ceilings when laying air ducts, pipelines, or cables and wires in them are protected by an automatic fire alarm.

In accordance with city building standards, doors and gates in fire walls and partitions of parking lots, in vestibule-airlocks are closed by automatic devices interlocked with fire automation, and manually. Smoke fire detectors are installed on both sides of the closed opening in the shopping complex.

Detectors are installed after the installation of luminaires. Detectors are installed on the ceiling at a distance of no less than 0.5 meters from the luminaires. According to fire safety standards, with parallel open laying, the distance between wires and cables of alarm loops and connecting lines with power and lighting wires must be at least 0.5 meters.

In accordance with fire safety standards, the fire post room with round-the-clock duty is equipped with light and sound alarms:

  • about fire occurrence with decoding by rooms in the shopping complex,
  • about the activation of the sprinkler system installation with decoding by rooms.

In accordance with fire safety standards, the control equipment of sprinkler system installations ensures the formation of a command for automatic start of the sprinkler system installation upon activation of two or more fire detectors or from two pressure sensors. The inclusion of pressure sensors must be carried out according to an "OR" scheme.

Control Signals for Engineering and Fire Protection Systems

The fire alarm system or the control equipment of sprinkler system installations allows the formation of control signals for engineering and fire protection systems in case of fire, see the Automation section:

  • Shutdown of general exchange supply and exhaust ventilation, air-thermal curtains, air conditioning systems, etc.
  • Closing fire dampers on the air ducts of supply and exhaust systems of the shopping complex.
Note on Cable Laying

Laying of fire alarm system cables in corrugated pipes with a diameter of 32 mm and fire notification cables in steel pipes with a diameter of 26 mm from the dispatcher's room of the designed building to the dispatcher's room of the existing building is carried out on-site, taking into account existing engineering systems, using the reserve in existing embedded communication and signaling devices with the permission of the building operation service of the shopping complex.

Installation of Communication and Signaling Networks is Carried Out After Installing

  • Activation of smoke removal systems, opening of smoke removal valves, and activation of smoke removal fans.
  • Activation of air pressurization systems.
  • Closing valves on the branches of air ducts of general ventilation systems on the supply to rooms equipped with gas fire extinguishing systems to prevent gas from spreading through the air ducts.
  • Activation of the fire notification system when addressable fire alarm detectors and the flow relay of the automatic fire extinguishing system are triggered, with the broadcast of specially developed texts aimed at preventing panic and other phenomena that complicate the evacuation process and containing information about the necessary direction of movement.
  • Lowering and raising elevators to the first landing floor, opening doors, and subsequent shutdown.
  • Deactivation of access control systems on evacuation routes from the shopping complex (partial shutdown of the access control system).
  • Activation of emergency lighting.
  • Activation of directional evacuation signs and hydrant indicator lights.

Engineering and fire protection systems on the technical floor are activated when triggered:

  • Two fire alarm detectors in the corridor or
  • One fire alarm detector in the room and one fire alarm detector in the corridor or
  • Sprinkler system installation + fire alarm detector.

Detectors in rooms are not used to activate the smoke removal system, which in case of a fire in a room of the shopping complex will prevent premature extraction of smoke into the corridors.

Installation of luminaires after the installation of other utility pipes.