Fire alarm training

[elektrisien]

Hi All,
Do you need special training to install fire alarms or burglar alarms ?
What do you think ? Or can your average spark install these to a high enough standard ?
Is it like really specialized ?

 

[acat]

Best to get trained they have their own British Standard and should any of them fail to do the job they are supposed to do and you installed it guess who is going to end up in the dock at the courthouse.


Chris

 

[pevvers]

Get yourself a copy of BS5839 and see if you think you can install to that standard. They're not the easiest things to read though!

The NICEIC do an emergency lighting and fire alarms course too, for about £370 for two days, which may be a thought if you've got a bit of extra cash to aid your knowledge...

 

[elektrisien]

Thanks, I agree. I dont think its as simple as some people say ..................follow the instructions on the box.
But all these courses are so damn expensive. I am going to see if I can get a copy of the BS5839.

 

[Tin]

Ive been installing for over 5 years, its hard at the start but once you get the swing of things it is easy to get your head around it.

The normal thing on a job is the main contractor to design the fire alarm system and all you have to do is install with whats on the drawing, the main contractor takes the design responsibility, and you take the intallers responsibility.

If you need any help or advice PM me

Steve

 

[oldtimer]

With regards to intruder alarms the theory used to be that a spark can do alarm systems but an alarm engineer cannot do sparking. I started with a national company and after a year thought I was the dogs bo*7^ s but when I moved on to another company found that I was not installing to the BS4737.

My advice would be buy a alarm panel outside sounder 2 pir,s 2 door contacts and a panic button and a 1 metre by 1 metre board fit the equipment on it and learn about alarms once you are confident enough then on you go if its domestics then buy the honeywell optima G4 panel and this should help you progress the hardest bit to get your head around will be the wiring of the external sounder looks a bit complicated but when you get the hang of it , it should be a scoosh.

Also drop me your email and I will forward my website that has a lot of info on alarms.

Remember best thing to do is learn as much as you can and dont turn up at the customers house with a box of equipment as you will end looking a fool if you cannot get it to work.

PS the optima G4 is a very common panel as it has been around for the last 25 years in one form or another if you want the manual I can mail it to you

 

[Sparky_Ben]

This is exactly what I have been wanting to ask.

Do you know of a course of any lenth maybe a few weeks perhaps that can be done to learn burglar and fire alarms? I dont really do them at work but it is something which I would like to gain experience in.

North east area.

 

[Tin]

I know that the NIC are doing a course on fire alarms & emergency lighting, gives u details on their site about what the course is about.

I learned on site, the best way I guess. You learn from your mistakes

Hope this helps

Steve

 

[pevvers]

I learned on site, the best way I guess. You learn from your mistakes

Completely the best way to do it, but if you haven't got a clue about it then some sort of formal training is probably best.

If back when you were an apprentice and knew absolutely nothing about the job, and I mean not a jot, would you been able to wire up a house to the correct regulations?

If you're a one man band, and have no one to help you out, then I think that you have to look at what the repercussions are if you were to get it wrong.

At best, nothing, at worst, dead people.

 

[F C E]

Hi Guys

Ive been working in fire alarms for 7 years now both carrying out design, install and comissioning of systems both installed by ourselves and some installed by electricians.

ive come across install's carried out by electricians and some have been good, others have been quite terrible that have cost the customer's more money to put right, i know that not all sparkies are cowboys but i should emphasis that as stated above if you install a fire detection system that should be compliant to BS5839 then you need to make sure all the avenue's are covered.

As members of organisations such as BAFE,NSI etc we have to meet certain standards of install,comissioning and maintenance otherwise we are liable for prosecution should the system fail to operate and someone is seriously injured or even killed.

If your unsure of what you are doing then the simple thing is dont do it, the consequences could be severe