Bsi bip 2124 2013

a ccount ha sha dtobeta kenofnewlyp blshedsta nda rds a ndcodesofpra ctice,pa rticula rlyBSEN54-1 , 2 whichob ia testhene dforma nyof the previously inclu ed deta iled recommenda tions r

and Maintenance of

an d Main ten an ce of

BSISta nda rdsLimited

389ChiswickHighRoa d

LondonW44A L

© TheBritishSta nda rdsInstitution2 1

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Secondeditionp bl shedb BSIin2 0

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a dPatentsAct19 8,nopa rtofthisp blca tionma ybereprod ced,

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priorpermis ioninwritingf omthep blsher

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p bl ca tion,BSIa cceptsnol a bi tyfora nylos orda ma geca used,

a risingdirectlyor indirectlyinconnectionwithrela nceonitscontents

except to theextenttha tsuchla bi tyma ynotbeexclu edinla w

Whieeveryefortha sbe nma detotra cea llcop rightholder , a nyone

cla imingcop rightshouldgetintouchwiththeBSIa tthea bove

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externa lorthird-pa rtyinternetwebsitesrefer edtointhisbo k,a nd

do snotgua ra nte tha ta nycontentonsuchwebsitesis, orwi

rema in,a ccura teora ppropria te

TherightofDougla sF Ma sona ndColnS.Tod tobeidentifieda s

thea uthor ofthisWorkha sbe na ssertedb themina ccorda ncewith

sections7 a nd78oftheC op rig t, De ig sa dPatentsAct19 8

Ty esetinGi Sa nsa ndCenturyScho lbo kb Hel us, Brightona nd

Rochester

PrintedinGrea tBrita inb Ber ortsGrou www.ber orts.co.uk

BritishLibraryCatalog in inPubl cation Data

Aca ta loguerecordforthisbo kisa va ila blef omtheBritishLibra ry

ISBN9 8058080 5 8

Dou lasF M ason

Tomythre lovingchi dren, K eith, Ja ynea ndFiona(Lit leBo ),

beca useofwhomIa mbles ed.A ndtoK a renforhereverla stinglove

a ndsu port A ndtotheca tsofHut onRo f(pa sta ndpresent),for

theirloya lcompa nya sIwriteinthedea dofnight

C ol nS T od

Ab ut hea thor ix

2 Voic alarmsy stemsand standards–ashorthistory 9

3 Theroleofv ic alarmsy stemsinfirewarning 1

8 Sy stemplanningconsiderations,includingexchange

ofinformationandresponsibi itiesandv riations 5

9 Inter ac betwe nthevoic alarmsy stemand the fire

1 Faultmonitoring,integrityandrel a bi ityofcircuits

1 Ty picalar angementsofv ic alarmsy stems 7

1 Voic alarmcontrola nd indicatingequipment(VACIE) 9

1 A mbientnoisesensinga ndcompensa tion 1 9

2 Cl maticand environmentalconditions,radioand

ele tricalinter erenc andele tricalsafety 1 3

Col n To d gra dua ted f om Edinb rgh Univer ity in 1 74 with a n

honour degre inphysic Hethenbeca meoneofthefir tfourstu ents

in the United K ingdom to underta ke a postgra dua te Ma ster degre

in fire sa fety engine ring, thereb sha ping his future ca re r in fire

protection

A fter fire protection ex erience in ind stry, the Fire Ofices’

Com-mit e (whichwa sla terincorpora tedintotheLos PreventionCounci

a ndalea dinginsura ncebroker,hefoundedthelea dingfireconsulta ncy

pra ctice,C.S.Tod &A ssocia tes,in1 82.Thepra ctice,ofwhichCol nis

ma na gingdirector, provides consulta ncy services in a ll a spects offire

sa fetya ndfireengine ring,b tha sa lwa ysbe na bletooferspecia list

a dviceonfiredetectiona ndfirea la rmma tter , a na reainwhichCol n

specia lizedd ringhistimewiththeFireOfices’Commit e (FOC)

Colnservedfortwoyea rsa samemberoftheBoa rdoftheInstitution

ofFireEngine r ( FE), a ndwa sthe director responsiblefor tech ica l

mat er He also served on the Board of the Eng ine ring Counci

Division ofthe Institution, a nd, for ma ny yea rs cha ired the Division’s

Member hipCommit e Heis,a t thetimeofwriting, Cha irma nofthe

FireRiskA sses mentCounci oftheFireInd stryA ssocia tion

ColnTod isacha rteredengine r,aFelowoftheInstitutionof

Elec-trica l Engine r , a Felow ofthe A ssocia tion ofBuiding Engine r , a

FelowoftheInstitutionofEngine ringa ndTech ology,aFelowofthe

Institute of Physic , a nd a corpora te member of the Society of Fire

ProtectionEngine r a ndtheInstituteofRiskMa na gement.Heisa lsoa

sta nda rdsa ssocia teoftheBritishSta nda rdsSociety

For ma ny yea rs, Coln ha s served on na tiona l sta nda rds ma king

commit e s,pa rticula rlythoseofBSI.HeisamemberoftheBSI

Tech-nica l Commit e tha twa sresponsiblefor theprod ctionofBS 583 -8,

a ndheservedontheBSIworkinggrou tha tprepa redthefina ldra ftof

the1 98ver ionofthesta nda rd

DouglasMa songra dua ted f omGla sgowUniver itywithadegre in

ma thema tic a nd physic His ca re r spa nned ind stria l electronic ,

defenceelectronic a ndresea rchbeforeheenteredthefieldof ire

protec-tionin1 83 a sEngine ringMa na gerofPla nnedEq ipmentLtd,afire

detectionsystemma nufa cturera ndinsta ller.Hebeca metech ica l

direc-torofthecompa ny,a nddesignedanewgenera tionof onventiona l(b t

mic oproces or-ba sed) firea la rmpa nels

The compa ny a lso ma jored in sound systems, a nd Dougla s led the

compa nyintothevoicea la rmfield.Hewa sresponsiblefortheintrod

c-tionofarangeof ophistic a ted,electronicv oic ealarmc ontroleq uipment

Recognizingthene dforsta nda rdiza tion,Dougla slob iedtheBritish

Fire Protection S stems A ssocia tion (BFPSA ) (now the Fire Ind stry

A ssocia tion)todevelopavoicea la rmsta nda rd.Hesu seq entlycha ired

theBFPSAworkinggrou tha tgenera tedthefir tUKsta nda rdforvoice

a la rmsin1 94.Hethenserveda s amemberoftheBSIworkinggrou

tha t, inefect, convertedtheBF SACodeintoBS583 -8

He joined C.S Tod & A ssocia tes in 1 98 a s a senior consulta nt

specia lisinginfiredetectiona ndvoicea la rmconsulta ncywork,a ndunti

2 08 designed ma ny fire detection a nd fire a la rm systems a nd voice

a la rmsystems

A lso,since1 98,heha sdra ftedanumberofBritishSta nda rds,inclu

-ingBS 583 -9, a ndmostrecentlyha sservedontheBSI workinggrou

tha t c ea tedtherevisedver ionofBS583 -8

Dougla sisacha rteredengine ra ndacorpora tememberoftheInstitu

-tionofEngine ringa nd Tech ology Heretiredf omful time

employ-ment with the pra ctice in 2 08, b t continues to worka s apa rt-time

consulta ntinthisfield

This is thethird edition ofT he de ig a d instal ation o voic alarm

systems.Thebo krema insag idetoBS583 -8,

1

thefir tcodeofpra

c-ticeintheUKforthedesign,insta lla tiona ndma intena nceofvoicea la rm

(V A ) systems, b tha sbe nbroughtu toda tetoreflectthecha ngesto

tha tdocument.TheCodeisonepa rtoftheBS583 suiteof odes,a llof

whichnowbea rthegenerictitleFir dete tiona dfir alarmsystemsf r

bui din s

Sincethep bl ca tionoftheorigina lver ionofBS583 -8in1 98,V A

systemsha vebecomemorepreva lent,pa rticula rlyinb idingsinwhich

su sta ntia l number of member of the p bl c a ssemble, b t a lso in

mediuma ndla rgemulti storeyoficeb idings.A ccordingly,thereisa n

evengrea terne dfortheCode,a ndforittobea sappropria tea ndupto

da tea spos ible.Thisbo krefer tothela test 2 1 ) ver ionoftheCode

b tcover a lltheextensionsofthes opeintrod cedinBS583 -8:2 08,

a swel a sthosenowinclu edinBS583 -8:2 1 ,sucha sa llowa ncefora n

inc ea singne dfor ire-resista ntda taca ble Newconcepts,sucha sty es

of V A systems, ha ve be n introd ced to help those specifying V A

systems

Inthefir teditionofthisGuide,theq estion‘Whyisthereane dfora

“g idetotheg ide” ’wa sa sked Thea nswerisproba blysti

‘interpre-ta tion’ A sinitsfir tp blshedform,thisbo kgivesfurtherguida nceon

is ues tha t were previously contentious or sur ounded b a mbig ity

However, theCodeha snowbe ninfor efor 1 yea rs a ndanumberof

cha ngesha vebe nfoundtobene ded;few,ifa ny,ofthesecha ngeswere

ma detotheCode(in2 08,a ndnowin2 1 )beca usetheCode,inits

orig-ina lform, wa s‘wrong’ However, a swel a stheextensiontothes ope,

1

BS5 3 -8:2 1 Fir dete tionan fir alarms stems o buidings.Code fpractic

frthede ign,instalation,c mmis ioningan maintenanc o v ic alarms stems

a ccount ha sha dtobeta kenofnewlyp blshedsta nda rds a ndcodesof

pra ctice,pa rticula rlyBSEN54-1 ,

2

whichob ia testhene dforma nyof

the previously inclu ed deta iled recommenda tions rela ting to control

a nd indica ting eq ipment for V A systems a nd BS EN 54-2 ,

3

which

Codesofpra cticedonotgivedeta iledguida nceonimplementa tion,nor

is it pos ible, in acode ofpra ctice, to ex la in in a ny deta il the rea son

behind the va rious recommenda tions ma de The ma in p rpose ofthis

Guideis,therefor e,toinc reaseunder tandingoftheCodeb ,forexample:

providingmoredeta iledguida nceonthema nnerinwhichthe

recommenda tionsma ybesa tis ied;

usingnumerousexa mplestoa idinterpreta tion.A lso,theGuideisnota s

forma ladocumenta stheCode,permit ingit oinclu eba ckgrounda nd

othera ssocia tedinforma tion For exa mple, theop ortunityis ta kento

consider the use of V A systems for p rposes other tha n emergency

wa rning.Thea uthor hopetha tthisa pproa chwi ma ketheGuide

inter-estingtorea d, a s, theyhope,wa stheca sewithpreviouseditions

A lthoughtheCodeha sbe nusedprima riyforVAsystemsa ssocia ted

withfiredetectionsystemsinb idings, thesesystemsha vesometimes

inclu ed fa ci ties for broa dca sting mes a ges releva nt to other

emer-gencysitua tionssucha sbomborothersecuritya lerts Tota kethisinto

a ccount, ‘fire mic ophones’ a re now refer ed to a s ‘emergency mic

o-phones’ I isimporta nt ha ttheCodedea lswithemergenciesothertha n

fire emergencies, beca useBS EN 6 8 9,

4

a nother V Asystemsta nda rd

dea lingwithsuchemergencies,ha sbe nwithdra wn.I should,however,

benotedtha ttherea rea lsootherreleva ntcodesorsta nda rdstha tma y

be specified in pa rticula r cir umsta nces, for exa mple BS 782

5

ifthe

voicea la rmisintendedforuseinasportsgroundorsta dium

I isstra ngehowlongitha sta kenforvoicemes a gestobecomeesta

b-lsheda sc ediblea la rmsof ire–or,inde d,a nyotheremergency.Inthe

BS7 2 :1 9 Code fpractic frde igning,spe ifing,maintainingan ope ating

emegenc s un s stemsatspo ts enue

1 th century, a ha nd el wa s used to dra w pe ple’s a ttention, b t

the wa rning wa s usua lly su plemented b a voice mes a ge, if only

comprisingthe word ‘Fire’ Even inthose ea rlyda ys, the use ofvoice

mes a gesmustha vea ssistedineva cua tion

In recent times, however, bels or electronic sounder , without a ny

voicemes a ges,ha vebe nesta blsheda sfirea la rmwa rningsigna ls.The

veryword‘a la rm’ conjuresu lou belsorsirensa nd, tothoseofusin

thefiresa fetyprofes ion,itse msob ioustha tthesewa rningsshouldbe

ta kenseriously.Wea llk ow,however,tha tthesoundof ingingbelsis

rea llyusefulonlytothosewho ha vebe ntra inedto recognizethema s

wa rningsoffirea ndtoresponda ppropria tely

Thoseunfa mi a rwithab i dingma ynotrecognizethewa rningf om

a na udiblea la rmdevicea safirewa rning.More ver,thereisatendency

for member of the p blc to disbeleve the wa rning, even if they do

recognizeit,onthea ssumptiontha t it might beatestorafa lsea la rm

(Unfortuna tely, sta tistica lly, this a ssumption is cor ect!) This mea ns

tha t there is often relucta nce on the pa rt ofoc u a nts to eva cua te a

b iding when the fire a la rm system is opera ted, resulting in a

‘pre-movement ime’ betwe ntheinitia lsoundingofthea la rma ndtheiniti

a tionofeva cua tion,tha tca ngrea tlyexce dtheeva cua tiontimeitself

Resea rch ha sshown tha t therelucta ncea rises, inpa rt, beca use ofa

desire for further informa tion This informa tion ca n be provided b

broa dcastingan appropriatelywor dedspe chmes age,thereb resulting

inamuchmorea ppropria teresponse; pra ctica lresea rcha nda necdota l

informa tionbothconfirmthis

Thereisnow,however,someevidencetha temergencyvoicemes a ges,

a lthoughinthemselvesgivingclea rinforma tionona ctiontobeta kenin

the event offire, ca n sometimes be ignored in a rea l fire condition, if

oc u a nts of a b i ding ha ve be n ex osed exces ively to repetitive

broa dca sts ofthea ctua lemergencymes a gesfortest p rposes (despite

mes a gesbeforea nda fterthetests,a dvisinglstener tota keno

emer-gencya ction) Tocounterthis, empha sisisp t, inthela test ver ionof

theCode,onminimizingthisex osuretothea ctua lemergencymes a ge

d ringwe klytestperiods, b broa dca stingthemes a geoutofnorma l

workinghour

Tha t a side, the repla cement ofbels or electronic sounder b voice

mes a gesdra ma tica llyred cestheoc u a nts’ pre-movementtimea nd,

therefore, theovera lleva cua tiontime.Therea renot yetenou hsta

tis-tic to determine whether lves ha ve be n sa ved b the use of voice

mes a ges,b tthereca nbenodoubttha t,inma nyty esofb iding,lfe

sa fetyisen a ncedb theuseofthesesystems.Thevoicea la rmishereto

sta ya nditsusewi grow

BS583 -1

6

refer itsrea er toBS583 -8forsystems‘wherea dible

alarmscomprisespe chmes agesgenerated b aVAsystem’ andthe

desig nofVAsystemsisthereforeesta lshedasasep ratedis iplnein

itsownright.Althoug hthedesig nprinciplescan, andshould,beb sed

on the principles developed for fire alarm systems, there are many

specialconsiderationsinthedesig nofVAsystems Theyinvolvea dio

tech olog y and acoustic , and the system must be a le to broa cast

emergency mes ages that can be easi y under to d Thus, there is a

major diference betwe naconventional alarm sounder system anda

VA system For ex mple, an alarm sounder system req ires only

a eq atea dibi tyforoptimumper eptionofthewarning , whereasa

VA system req ires intel gibi ity, of which a dibi ity is only one

component

A s dis us ed in more deta il in the next cha pter, the a bsence, for a

considera ble time, of specific codes of pra ctice or sta nda rds for VA

systems resulted inma nydesignshortcomings, ba dpra cticesa nd, ulti

ma tely, insta lla tions tha t didnot evenme t theba sicprinciples offire

a la rmdesigna sembodiedin,forexa mple,BS583 -1.Ina deq a telyintel

lgible a nd not ea siy under to d broa dca sts were one ofthe common

shortcomings Without thedis iplnenow a ppled b therecommenda

-tions of BS 583 -8, ma ny V A systems would sti l exhibit problems

tota llyunmonitoredsectionsofthea la rmpa th,inclu ingthe

c ucia llnkbetwe nthefiredetectionsystema ndtheV Asystem

These shortcomings a rose not merely through ignora nce of system

req irements(a lthoughthesoundsystemsind strywa sinitia llyslowto

a pprecia te the principles offire a la rm design), b t in order to red ce

costsa ndwinorder –averyunsa tis a ctorysta teofa ffa ir !A ccordingly,

the p bl ca tion of BS 583 -8 wa s a n importa nt step in ra tiona lizing,

sta nda rdizinga nd providingato l for thecontrol ofdesign sta nda rds

These importa nt fa ctor ha ve now be n en a nced b the p blca tion

of this revised ver ion of the Code Nevertheles , the a uthor of the

6

BS5 3 -1:2 1 Fir dete tionan fir alarms stems o bui dings—Code fpractic

frde ign,instalation,c mmis ioningan maintenanc o s stemsinnon-dometic

pr mis s

Code ha ve once a ga inbe n cons ious ofthe ne d to a void ‘going over

thetop’ in ma king recommenda tions or pla cingonerous req irements

u on system designer tha t would inevita bly lea d to exces ively high

costs a nd drive p r ha ser ba ck to conventiona l a la rm sounder

systems.Intheorigina lver ionoftheCode,pa rticula rca rewa sta kento

a voidrecommenda tionsforVAsystemstha twentbeyondthea na logous

recommenda tionsforconventiona la la rmsoundersystems.Therevised

Code further empha sizes this ne d b introd cing the concept ofV A

systemty es,whicha ssistsinprovidinga‘hor esforcour es’a pproa ch

toV Asystemdesign

A ttempts ha ve a lso be n ma de to ensure tha t the Code is flexible

where a ppropria te For exa mple, with the a dvent of BS EN 54-1 ,

whichinte al agivesper orma ncereq irementsforpowera mplfier ,it

ma y now not be neces a ry to include a utoma tica lly switched sta nd y

a mplfier beca use of the in erent rela bi ity of power a mplfier

conformingtotha tBritishSta nda rd

Evena fterthegrea tca reta kenintheorigina lver ionoftheCodeto

consider theviewsofa llpa rties, a ndto develop recommenda tions tha t

werelogica la nd justifia ble, thereha s wa s sti some misunder ta nding

oncerta inis ues, sucha stheuseof‘d a l’ lou spea ker cir uits Pa

rtic-ula ra ttentionisthereforegiventotheseis uesinthisGuide

InBS 583 -8:2 08, asignifica ntnumberofa ltera tionsa nda dditions

tothecontentwerema de,beca useofchangesintec hnolog ,customand

practice.Theprinc ipa lc hanges( ak enf omthetextoftherevisedCode)

werea sfolows:

a ) ‘Ty es’ ofV Asystemsha vebe nintrod cedtorecognizea nd

iden-tifythediferentconfigura tionsof ystemstha tca nbeuseda nd

theirspecificopera tiona lne ds;

b) thene disclea rlyidentifiedfortheb idingeva cua tionpla ntobe

ba sedonariska sses mentb acompetentper on;

c) recommenda tionsintheuseofvoicesounder ha vebe ninclu ed

a sacla useinthema inpa rtoftheCodea sop osedtoa na nnex,

thusrecognizingtheirinc ea seda ccepta bi tyinsimplerV A

systemswherema nua lcontrol snotreq ired;

d) recommenda tionsforV Acontrola ndindica tingeq ipmenta nd

powersu plyeq ipmentha vebe nrewrit enta kingintoa ccount

tha tthenewha rmonizedEuropea nsta nda rds,BSEN54-1 a nd

BS EN54-4,givethea ppl ca bleprod ctreq irements;

e) theinforma tiononsta nd yba tteryca lcula tionha sbe nconsol

da tedintooneinforma tivea nnex;

f) twodiferentlevelsoffireresista nceof a blesa rerecognized,a nd

recommenda tionsgivenfora pplca tionofea chty e;

g) recommenda tionsfornetworkedsystems, forexa mpleinrespectof

ca blety es, a reinclu ed;

h) theuseofr ad i otoli nkp r tsoftheVAsystemi sr ecogni zedand

r ec ommend ati onsfortheimpl ementati onof uc hr ad iol i nksi nc lud ed ;

i recommenda tionsforthema intena nceofsystems, inclu ingthe

periodsa twhichroutineservicingshouldbeca rriedout, ha vebe n

revised;

j) thesingle‘commis ioninga ndinsta lla tion’ certifica teha sbe n

repla cedb amod la rcertifica tions hemesepa ra telycovering:

design,insta lla tion,commis ioning,a ccepta nce, verifica tion,

inspectiona ndservicing,a ndmodifica tion;

k) thecodeofpra cticeha sbe nsimplfiedb theuseofpra ctice

specifica tionforma t, inwhichcommenta ryonreleva ntprinciples

isfolowedb short, suc inct recommenda tions.Thisisintended

toma kethecodeofpra cticeles a mbiguousa ndsimplerforthe

non-specia list toa pplya ndcompla nceofinsta lla tionsmore

stra ightforwa rdtoa udit;

l theterm‘devia tion’ha sbe nrepla cedwiththeterm‘va ria tion’

toa voida nynega tiveconnota tiona ssocia tedwiththetermused

todes ribea na spect ofsystemdesigntha t,forgoodrea sons,do s

not conformtothissta nda rd

Since then, a t lea st the folowing a ltera tions a nd a dditions ha ve be n

ma deinBS583 -8:2 1 :

a ) thetextonra dio- in edsystemsha sbe nmodifiedtoremove

confl ctswithBSEN54-2 :2 08;

b) newrecommenda tionsformea surementofa udibi tyofba ck

-groundnoiseha vebe na dded;

c) thetextonca blesa ndwiringha sbe nu da ted;

d) A nnexCha sbe nmodifiedtoa llowfora lterna tivea mplfierefi

ciencies;

e) pra ctica lguida nceisnowinclu edonpla cementoflou spea ker in

simplea cousticenvironments;

f) theterm‘responsibleper on’ ha sbe nremoveda ndrepla cedwith

referencesto‘premisesma na gement’toa voidconfusionwiththe

termdefinedinlegisla tion;

g) cha ngesha vebe nma detorecommendedregula rsystemtest

proced res

V Asystemsmustbeproperlydesignediftheya retoopera te

continu-ously a nd rela bly However, the phiosophy behind the recommenda

-tionsofBS 583 -8do snot involvethec ea tionofsystems tha tca nnot

fa il.( nde d, notonlyis1 0percentrel a bi tyimpos ible,b titwould

be una fforda ble even ifit didexist.) The Code do s stres the ne dfor

mea surestha twi minimizefa iluresa nddowntime,b ta lsostres esthe

ne dforcomprehensivemonitoringofa llc itica lsystemelements This

ne dforcomprehensivefa ultmonitoringisoneofthema infea turestha t

distinguishaV Asystemf omatra ditiona lp blca ddres system

A sintheca seofa nycodeofpra ctice,BS583 -8providesrecommenda

-tions, ra thertha nreq irements Inpra ctice, ofcour e, theCodeforms

the ba sis for p r ha se specifica tions a nd req irements b enfor ing

a uthorities.Nevertheles ,va ria tionsf omtherecommenda tionsma ybe

acc epta bleinparticula rcir umstances.S chv ariationsshouldbesu jec t

to a gre ment betwe n a ll interested pa rties, inclu ing the p r ha ser,

a nyreleva ntenfor inga uthoritya nd, pos ibly,thefireinsurer

V Asystems a repa rticula rlya ppropria teformedium- a ndla rge-sized

b idingstha thousesignifica ntnumber ofmember ofthep bl c The

a bi ty of these systems to broa dca st specific mes a ges for pa rticula r

a rea softheb idinga ndrea l timespe chma kethemverysuita blefor

b idingsinwhichpha sedeva cua tionisused However,theprincipleof

usingvoicemes a gestogivefirewa rningisa ppropria teforvirtua llya ny

sizeofb i ding,a nd,a sthecostof ystemsdec ea sesa ndthereisgrea ter

integra tionofVAsystemsa ndfiredetectionsystems, thesizeofb i

d-ings for which V A systems a re used wi continue to dec ea se The

en a ncedguida nceconta inedintherevisedver ionofBS583 -8should

a ssist this growth in V A systems, whie ensuring tha t the systems

insta lledme tthene dsoffiresa fety

Even though the revised Code a ddres es the few a mbig ities a nd

imper ections found in the origina l ver ion, further such is ues ma y

a rise, a s ex erience in the use of the Code continues to grow User

should note tha t BSI tech ica l commit e s a lwa ys welcome fe d a ck

Thetech ica lcommit e responsibleforBS 583 -8would,no dou t, be

prepa redtoconsiderfurthercomments romuser a ndwould,ob iously,

continuetobeinapositiontorespondtoenq iriesintheeventof erious

problemsofinterpreta tion

a short hist ory

Beforethedis overyofelectricity,thespokenwordwa sthefir tformof

loca l wa rningb some newho ha d se nsomething recogniza ble a s a n

emergencyor wa rningwhether it besmoke, fire, remotesigna lstra

ns-mit ed via sema phore, bonfires, etc However, communica tion of the

mes a gea cros even a lmited a rea involved dispa tchinga mes enger,

evenoververyshortdista nces

Thea ncientGre ksha dfoundtha t,inordertotra nsmitarea llyclea r

voicemes a gea cros a na ssembledgrou ofpe plesimulta ne usly,there

werebenefitsifthea uditoriumwerearoundedholowinthesideofahi

a ndthespea kerwa sloca teda ta‘foca lpoint’ Thiswa s,efectively,ea rly

a coustic design a nd no dou t ofaverya pproxima te na ture

Neverthe-les , it demonstra ted a n under ta nding tha t consistent intel gibi ty

throughoutalsteninga reaises entia lifthemes a geistobeunder to d

thedevelopmentof ommunica tionstech iq es

Ea rlyp blc a ddres systems wereusedfir t for indo r a ndoutdo r

me tings,etc b ttheirusegrewforpa ginga ndba ckgroundmusic

During the Second World Wa r, there wa s plenty ofop ortunity for

insta lla tiona ndregula ruseofemergencysoundsystems For exa mple,

they were used to s ra mble a ir for e c ew a nd give specific order

However,la rgelou sirenswerewidelyusedfora irra idwa rning,soa sto

wa rn la rge number of pe ple q ickly a nd simulta ne usly A ir ra id

sirens a re, of cour e, a n exa mple of the exceptiona l ca se where the

mea ningofthe a la rm signa l wa s k own to every od , withvery lt le

tra ining!

Bythe 1 5 s, everyrespecta ble la rge ofice blockha d ‘the Ta nnoy’

a s p blc a ddres systems were often k own ‘Music whie you work’

in fa ctories brought a la rge inc ea se in the use of sound systems in

ind stry Beca usep blc a ddres systems wereinsta lled a nda va ila ble,

considera tionbega ntobegiventotheiruseintheeventof irea ndother

emergencies.Thus,itistheca setha t,intheUK,p blca ddres systems

ha ve be n used for giving fire wa rnings for severa l deca des In some

ca ses, the p blc a ddres system wa s the prima rymea ns ofgiving fire

wa rnings(a s wel a s servinga s aconventiona l p blc a ddres system),

a lthough, in other ca ses, p blc a ddres systems were used only to

providesu plementa ryinforma tionwhenfirea la rmsounder opera ted

Thelevelofintegra tionofafiredetectionsystemwithap blca ddres

systemtendedtobeeithernon-existent orveryc u e

Theterm‘voicea la rmsystem’or‘voiceeva cua tionsystem’ wa s

some-timesusedb certa inorga niza tionstodes ribethesesystems.However,

in engine ring terms, these ea rly systems were simply rela tivelysta

n-da rdp blca ddres systemstha tha ppenedtobeusedforfirewa rning

These ea rly systems oftenreleduponeither ta ped mes a ges or rea l

time spe ch, often b opera tor who werei lsuited to the ta sk!

More-over, the systems themselves fel fa r short of the level of integrity

ex ectedofafire a la rmsystem, evenafire a la rmsystem tha t met the

les stringent sta nda rds ofthe timein q estion Cir uits wereneither

monitorednorwiredinfire-resistingca ble,whiesta nd ypowersu ples

were either non-existent or, often, ofarela tivelyshort d ra tion Unti

the 1 6 s, va lve a mplfier were used, ma king the systems prone to

fa ilure,whieelementa rydesignofmic ophonesa nd, pa rticula rly,lou

-spea ker , resulted in ineficiency ofsystems, neces ita tingla rge lou

-spea ker tha tdidnotprod ceapa rticula rlyhighoutp t

Theintel gibi tyofthesystemswa softenq itepo r.Inde d,insome

ca ses, the pa ucity of loudspea ker wa s such tha t the mes a ges were

completelyunintel giblewithin,forexa mple,celula roficea ccommod

-tion Sometimes, the system wa s intended to do no more tha n a ttra ct

a ttention witha n a la rmtone, so ca using pe ple to va ca te their ofices

a nd proce d to a loca tion, such a s the cor idor, where the broa dca st

informa tionmightbeintel gible

Thus,forthev astmajorityofapplcations,belsandelec tronicsounder

werethenorm.Thesedevicesa re,a ftera ll,lou a nda ttention-dra wing

Bel s a nd sounder a re sti l in pop la r use toda y a nd a re per ectly

a deq a te a s fire a la rms for ma ny a ppl ca tions, provided lstener a re

tra inedtorecognizethema ndunder ta ndthea ctiontheymustta keon

hea ringthem

IntheUK ,recognitionofwha tbeca mek owna s‘useofp blca ddres

eq ipment in leu ofconventiona l sounder ’ a nd the ne d for specia l

considera tionofpa rticula ra spectsofengine ringdesign, ca nbetra ced

ba cka tlea sta sfa ra s1 7 , whenBritishSta nda rdCodeofPra cticeCP

1 1 wa s p blshed, toprovide recommenda tions onfire a la rmsystem

design This code conta ined eight recommenda tions for p blc a ddres

systems tha t were to be used for giving fire wa rnings Most ofthese

recommenda tions rema inreleva nt, a nd inde d a rea n in erent pa rt of

gooddesigntoda y,a lthough somea resti overlo kedf omtimetotime

b designer ! The recommenda tions were ca rried over into BS 583

-1:1 80 a ndBS 583 -1:1 8 ,b tex a ndedb ala tera mendmenttothe

la tter code Sincethen, ver ions ofBS 583 -1, p blsheda fterthe fir t

ver ionofBS583 -8,ha vebe na bletorefertothela ttercodeofpra ctice

forrecommenda tionsinrespectofV Asystems

In the USA , the fir t Na tiona l Fire Protection A ssocia tion (NFPA )

‘V oice/ A la rmSigna llngServiceS b-Commit e ’wa sformedin1 7 a nd

immedia telybega nworkonthedevelopmentofNFPASta nda rd7 F

6

A s

in the ca se of BS 583 -8, the intention wa s to sta nda rdize design

pra ctices

Thea pproa chinbothoftheea rlyUKa ndA merica ncodeswa ssimply

to ensure tha t theprinciples offire a la rm designwere a dopted inthe

designofV Asystems.Therewa slt leornoa ttentiontoa cousticis ues,

ortoa spectsofdesignforwhichtherewa snotastrictlya na logousa spect

infirea la rmsystemdesign

Ma jorgrowthintheuseofV AsystemsintheUKproba blyema na ted

f omtwosour es,bothofwhicha redis us edinmoredeta il nthenext

cha pter The fir t sour e wa s the inc ea sed use ofpha sed eva cua tion

principles for ta ll b idings, theconstructionofwhich went through a

bo m,pa rticula rlyinLondon,d ringthe1 80s.Secondly,aconsidera ble

a mountofimporta nta ndq iteelega nt resea rchintohuma nbeha viour

infirerevea ledtha tresponseofpe pletoa la rmsigna lscouldbegrea tly

improvedb provisionofa dditiona linforma tionviavoicemes a ges.I is

interestingtonotetha t, inthefir tca se, theintentionistoensuretha t

those who ne d not eva cua te a re rea ssured a nd rema in in their own

a rea softheb iding,whietheintentioninthesecondca seistopromote

ra pideva cua tion!

6

NFP 7 FStan ardfrthe nstalation,M aintenanc an Us o Eme genc Voic /

AlarmCommunicationSy tems

Thecomingtogetherof iredetectionsystemsa ndsoundsystemsina

widesprea d ma nner ha s, therefore, ta ken pla ce prima riy within more

recentyea rs.However,d ringtheinitia lyea rsofthegrowthintheuseof

V Asystems,itra pidlybeca meclea rtha ttherewa sina deq a teguida nce

ondesignis ues Pa rtoftheproblemha sbe ntha t, eveninthe1 9 s,

theprovisionofV Asystemstendedtobea chievedb ta kinga nof

-the-shelf iredetectiona ndfirea la rmsystema ndcon ectingit,oftenb rela

-tiv elyc u e mea ns, to ap bl c a ddres system ofen a nced design, to

form asingle system tha t oftenfel short ofthe spirit, a nd sometimes

even the let er, ofeven the simple g ida nce tra ditiona llyconta ined in

firea la rmdesigncodes

Theln betwe nthefiredetectionsystema ndtheV Asystemwa s,for

ma nyyea rs,apa rticula rly‘grey’a rea Clea rly,thisisa nes entia lpa rtof

thea la rmpa ththa tmustberob sta ndful ymonitored.However,itwa s

q ite commonforthesu plerofthefiredetectionsystem to give very

lt lea ttentiontothisma tter,a stheVAsystemwa strea teda sa na uxi

-ia ry system, con ection to which justified, sometimes, nothing more

tha n a nunmonitoredpieceoftelephone ca ble Ba sica lly, theorga niza

-tion providing the fire detection system considered tha t this wa s a n

inp t to the V A system a nd nothing to do with afire a la rm su pler,

whiethesu pl eroftheV Asystemtrea tedita sa noutp tf omthefire

a la rmsystema ndnothingtodowiththevoicea la rmsu pler!

Lou spea ker cir uit monitoring a lso presented pa rticula r problems

a ndwa s not a lwa ys properlyconsidered or implemented Inthe inevi

tablecompetitiv ecommer ialworld,p r haser oftenselectedthelowest

costsystem,which, unsurprisingly,didnota lwa ysha vecomprehensive

fa ultmonitoringofthety egenera llyreq iredfor irewa rningsystems

Eq a lly, a fter certa in fire disa ster , a n inc ea se in a ttention to fire

sa fetysta nda rdssometimesledtosomeconsulta nts’req irementsbeing

considereda sover-specifica tion.Insomea spectsofdesign, thereq

ire-ments specified went beyond thosetha t would tra ditiona llya pply to a

firewa rningsystem

There wa s, therefore, a n urgent ne d for suita ble sta nda rdiza tion

Ma nyhopedtha t,whenBS74 3

7

wa sp bl shedin1 9 ,itwouldresolve

some ofthecontentious is ues This BritishSta nda rd wa s a ctua llythe

Britishver ionofa n IECsta nda rd,IEC8 9:1 89

8

Unfortuna tely, the sta nda rd, which ha d be nprod ced without a ny

rea lreferenceto thoseinvolvedinfire a la rmsta nda rds, provided lt le

pra ctica l a ssista nce I did, however, introd ce the concept of spe ch

intel gibi ity, a ndma de adefinitiverecommenda tioninrespect ofthe

ma nnerinwhichintel gibi ityshouldbemea sureda nd theresult tha t

shouldbea chieved

Onthenega tiveside,thesta nda rdintrod cedwidesprea dconfusiona s

to whether conforma nce neces ita ted two independent (a nd usua lly

‘interlea ved’) lou spea kercir uitsona ll flo r ofab iding,apra ctice

tha t wa s not req ired a t the time to sa tis y the recommenda tions of

BS583 -1forsoundercir uits(a lthoughthisisnowrecommendedfora

lmitednumberof itua tionsinthecur entver ionofBS583 -1)

However,V Asta nda rdsmovedforwa rdwithaq a ntumlea pwhen,in

1 94,theBritishFireProtec tionS stemsA ssoc iation(BFPSA)p blshed

its Code o practic f r the de ig , instal ation a d s r icing o voic

alarm systems as ociated with fir dete tion systems In contra st with

BS 74 3,thiscodeofpra cticeconta inedasignifica nta mount of‘mea t’

More ver, ita doptedma nyoftheprinciplesconta inedinBS583 -1,so

ensuringa tlea stadegre of onsistencyofdesignprinciplesbetwe nfire

a la rm systems using conventiona l sounder a nd those incorpora ting

V Asystems

TheBFPSA(nowk owna stheFIA )codela cked,however,someofthe

rigour of a British Sta nda rd, a nd rema ined somewha t a mbiguous in

respect of a number of ma tter In the mea ntime, voice a la rms with

designdeficiencieswerebeinginsta lledintocomplexb idings,inwhich

the sa fety of la rge number of pe ple would depend on a deq a te fire

wa rning S chwa s theconcernover this is ueb theLos Prevention

Certifica tionBoa rd(LPCB) tha ttheLPCB is uedaTech ica lBuletin,

remindinginterestedpa rties, pa rticula rlyfirea la rmcontra ctor certifi

ca tedb theLPCB, ofcommonlyex erienced pitfa lls a ndanumber of

designfea turesreq iredforconforma ncetoBS583 -1

BSI simplya doptedtheBFPSAcode,verba tima ndinitsentirety, a s

thefir tdra ftofBS583 -8,whichwa sthenoferedforp blccomment

The p blc comments were not extensive in number, b t were very

significa nt inrespect ofthetechnica l ma tter a ndfunda menta l design

princ iplesthattheyaddres ed.Accordingly,theBSITech ic a lCommit e

responsibleforthenewcodeformedasma llworkinggrou ,which,overa

prolongedperiodoftimetha twa scommensura tewiththesignifica nceof

thep blc comment, underto kma jor redra ftingofthedocument The

working grou a dded new ma teria l on is ues tha t commenta tor indi

ca ted should be a ddres ed, in some ca ses completely rethin ing the

phiosophytha t underla y anumber ofdesignprinciples, a ndproviding

a more definitive code of pra ctice, a ga inst which q ite rigorous a nd

una mbiguousverifica tioncouldbeunderta ken A bouteight yea rsa fter

p bl ca tionoftheCode,thesa meBSITech ica lCommit e re-formeda

workinggrou to revisethe Code, folowing aconsidera ble number of

commentsreceived Oncea ga in,dra ftingreq iredaprolongedperiodof

work,b ta lltheis ues efer edtointheIntrod ctionofthisGuidewere

a ddres edindeta il,resultingina nup a tedCodetha tisea siertodigest

tha nitspredeces or

A lthoughitissti theca setha ttherevisedBS583 -8isonlyacodeof

pra ctice, it wi continue to form the ba sis ofcontra cts a nd enfor ing

a uthorityreq irements.Thea uthor oftherevisedver ionha ve

there-forestriventoensuretha ttheCodeisa sdefinitivea nda suna mbiguous

a spos ible,withoutstifl nginnova tion

When dra fting the origina l ver ion of BS 583 -8, in the a bsence of

a ppropria te prod ct sta nda rds, it wa s decided to includerecommenda

-tionsfor eq ipment, sucha scontrola ndindica tingeq ipment, despite

thefa ct ha ttheCodewa sasystems-rela teddocument.Withthep blca

-tion,forexa mple,ofBSEN54-1 forvoicea la rmcontrola ndindica ting

eq ipment a nd BS EN 54-4

9

for power su ply eq ipment, it ha s be n

pos ible for the revised Code to concentra te more u on the systems

a spectsofvoicea la rm

Inouropinion,a nexcelentjobwa sdoneinu da tingBS583 -8.I is

nowsetoutin‘pra cticespecifica tion’forma t,withsepa ra tecommenta ry

a nd recommenda tions, ma king it ea sier to rea d tha n in its previous

ver ion The Code should be a n even more va lua ble document in the

promotionofgrea teruseofV Asystemsa saresultofinc ea sedusera nd

specifier confidence, a s wel a s clea rer, sta nda rdized objectives for the

prod ctdesigner

9

BSEN5 -4:1 9 Fir dete tionan fir alarms stems.Powe su ply q ipment

Inprinciple, aV Asystemca nbeuseda sthemea nsofbroa dca stingfire

a la rmsigna lsina nyb iding, rega rdles of ize, oc u a ncyor function

(provided,ofcour e, thena tureoftheb idingisnot suchtha trea

son-a ble intel gibi itywould be impos ible to a chieve – the is ue ofa la rm

intel gibi tyisdis us edinCha pter1 ).I isunlkelytha t,engine ring

a ndeconomicis uesa side,therewouldeverbeasignifica ntfiresa fetyor

ma na geria l ba sis for rejectinga VA system infa vour ofa system tha t

usedconventiona la la rmsounder

Inpra ctice, thereis lt le, ifa ny, a dva nta geinusingaVAsystemin

b idings of lmited size, with oc u a nts who a re fa mi ia r with the

b idinga ndtra inedineva cua tionproced res.V oicea la rmsa resti not

beingusedinsuchb i dingstoa nygrea t extent, simplybeca useofthe

grea tercostnorma llya ssocia tedwiththeV Asystem.However, thereis

a continua tion of the trend towa rds the use of V A systems in more

stra ightforwa rdb idingstha nha stra ditiona llybe ntheca se,provided

a nycostpena ltya ssocia tedwithaV Asystemca nbekepttoaminimum

Even in stra ightforwa rd b idings, a V A system ca n be designed to

providea dditiona l informa tion (such a s the loca tion ofthe fire) ifthis

informa tionisofva luetooc u a nts

Eq a lly,therea reb idingsforwhichtheuseofaV Asystemma ybe

rega rdeda ses entia lor,a ttheverylea st,recognizedgoodpra ctice.S ch

ca sesa risewhenthereisarecognizedne dfor:

a nenha ncedmotiva tiontoeva cua te

Thre common exa mples ofb idings in which one (or more) ofthese

fa ctor isreleva nta reb idingsinwhich:

The concept ofpha sed eva cua tion ha s be n used for ma nyyea rs in

b idings inwhichit is un eces a ry, a ndevenundesira ble, toeva cua te

theentire b idingwhenfireisfir t detected Inala rgeind stria lsite

witha nextensivera ngeofb idings,eventhoughtheb idingsma ybe

inter on ected,therema ybenone dtoeva cua tea rea sremotef omthe

fire.AV Asystemca nprovideinforma tiona stotheloca tionofthefire,so

tha t, forexa mple, afiretea mma ybea ssembled,otherkeysta ffma ybe

a wa reofthesitua tiona ndoc u a ntsma y bea dvisedtoke pout ofthe

a ffecteda rea

However, perha ps the most common pha sed eva cua tion a pplca tion

inwhichthe use ofaV Asystem is pa rticula rlyimporta nt involves ta ll

ofice b idings In these b idings, su ject to certa in sa fegua rds tha t

ne dnotbedis us edhere,thenumbera nd/ orwidthsof ta ir a sesma y

bered cedifapha sedeva cua tionsystem,ra thertha na nyformof ingle

sta geeva cua tion,isa dopted.Thephiosophyistha tthesta ir a seca pa ci

tiesne dnotbedesignedtoca terforthesimulta ne useva cua tionofa ll

oc u a nts Instea d, oc u a ntsa reeva cua tedinacontrol eda ndpha sed

ma nner,usua llytwoflo r a tatime, norma llysta rtingwiththeflo rof

fireorigina ndtheflo r immedia telya bove Sincethe oc u a nts oftwo

flo r only a re l kely to be using the sta ir a ses a t a ny one time, the

permit ed red ction in sta ir a se ca pa city ca nbe significa nt, providing

greaterusa blea ndlet a bleflo rspa ce.Pha sedeva cua tionisma inlyused

in the ca se ofofice b idings, pa rticula rly those over a round 3 m in

height, a lthou hitis, oc a siona lly,usedinotheroc upa ncies

Intheca seofata lloficeb i dingwithapha sedeva cua tiona rra

nge-ment, theremust be a nuna mbiguous method ofgivinginstructions to

eva cua tea nd,of our e, givinginstructionsnottoeva cua te.Thisca nbe

a chievedwithbelsorelectronicsounder (e.g.b theuseofa n

intermit-tentsigna lforthe‘a lert’conditiona ndacontinuoussigna lforthe‘eva

c-ua te’instruction)

The use ofa V A system, however, a dds a further dimension to the

ma na gement ofthe eva cua tion Fir tly, voice mes a ges a re much les

a mbiguoustha nintermit entorcontinuoustones.(A lthoughtothoseof

usconver a nt with two-sta gea la rm a rra ngements, theintermit ent or

continuous ringing of bels, a nd the mea nings a ssocia ted therewith,

a ppea r rela tively stra ightforwa rd to under ta nd, the confusion tha t

ca nexistinthemindsofoc u a ntswhoha vebe nina deq a telytra ined

is a stonishing!) More ver, the V A system ca n, a nd should, provide

rea ssura ncetooc u a ntsonflo r notyettobeeva cua tedtha ttheya re

sa fe a nd ne d not a ttempt to eva cua te, notwithsta nding tha t, lo king

f omtheirwindows,theyma yse ahostof irea ppla ncesa nd,pos ibly,

evenevidenceofafire! I is importa nt tha t oc u a ntsa rerea ssuredin

this wa y since, iftheywere to decide to a ttempt, in efect, to eva cua te

f om a ll a rea s of the b iding simulta ne usly, there would be serious

over rowdingonthesta ir a ses

S chistherecognitionoftheroleofV Asystemsinpha sedeva cua tion

tha t, for exa mple, the London District Surveyor A ssocia tion (LDSA )

guida ncedocumentonpha sedeva cua tion

1

specifica llyrecommendsthe

useofV Asystems,a lthoughthereisthepotentia ltorela xthisintheca se

ofofice b idings ofsix storeys or fewer Simia rly, BS 9 9

1

ma kes

reference to V A systems a nd their benefits in su porting mea ns of

es a pe

Therea sonfor theuse ofV A systemsbecomingsta nda rd pra cticein

la rgep blc a ssemblyb idingsissomewha tdiferent Inthisca se, the

ma jorityofoc u a ntswi beunfa mi ia rwiththefirea la rmsigna lsa nd

theeva cua tionproced res

UseofaV Asystemensurestha ta nuna mbig ouswa rningisgivento

a lloc u a nts.TheV Asystemisa lsousedtoprovidea dditiona linforma

-tionrega rdingtheproced restobefolowed.Inthisrespect,thereca nbe

va stlymoreflexibi itytha n in theca seofasystem using conventiona l

a la rmsounder ; pre-recorded mes a gesca nbeover id en b rea l time

mes a gesbroa dca stf omacontrolro m,whereinforma tiononthefireis

a va ila ble, or b thefirea ndres ueservicewhentheyta kecha rge This

ca npermitdirectionofoc u a ntsrega rdinges a peroutestha tshouldbe

used(ornot used),etc

Responsetofirea la rmwa rningsa ndmotiva tiontoeva cua teha v ebe n

thesu jectofconsidera bleresea rchonthesu jectofhuma nbeha viour

in fire, pa rticula rly d ring the 1 80s The results ofmuch of this

re-sea rch were widely dis emina ted, even rea ching the genera l p blc b

mea nsof omeofthepop la rs ienceprogra mmesontelevision

Theresea rchindica tedq iteuna mbiguously,a severyoneintheworld

offire sa fetyk ewonlyto wel, tha t pe ple tend to rea ct ina ppropri

a telytoconventiona lfirewa rningsigna ls.Theymightevenbeunsurea s

towhetherthewa rningsigna lwa sintendedtoindica tefireorsomeother

emergency.However,eveniftheyweretorecognizethesounda stha tof

a fire wa rning, there would be a tendency to disbeleve the wa rning

signa l, on the a ssumption tha t it might be a test or fa lse a la rm A s a

result of this uncerta inty, there is often a relucta nce on the pa rt of

b idingoc u a ntstoeva cua tewhenthefirea la rmsystemisopera ted,

resulting in a ‘response time’ tha t ca n grea tly exce d the eva cua tion

time, so constituting the ma jor element of the time interva l betwe n

outbrea koffirea ndtota leva cua tionofab iding

Resea rcha lsoshowedtha tpa rtoftha tdela yresultedf omadesirefor

further informa tion, which could be sa tis ied only b confer ing with

other , or even telephoning other , to obta in a ppropria te informa tion

tha twa sper eivedtoberela bleinna ture.Thereis,however,arema

rk-a blecontra stinbeha viourwhenthefirewa rningcomprisesa na ppropri

a telywordedspe chmes a ge,givingclea ra nduna mbiguousinforma tion

a longwitha ppropria teinstructions Inthisca se, theresponseismuch

more immedia te, so resulting in a significa nt red ction in the time

betwe n outbrea k of fire a nd oc u a nts’ a rriva l a t a pla ce of sa fety

outsidetheb iding

Inthefireengine r ingdesignofb idings,inv olv ingaholsticapproa c h

tofiresa fetydesign,a ccountma ybeta kenoftheshortereva cua tiontime

tha t wi perta in ifa V A system is used instea d ofconventiona l a la rm

sounder Infireengine ringdesign,thetimebetwe nignitiona ndeva

c-ua tionma ybedividedintoanumberof omponents,oneofwhichis

‘pre-movement time’ defined a s the time betwe n the giving of a n a la rm

signa l to oc u a nts ofthe b iding a nd the point a t which oc u a nts

begintoeva cua te.Pre-movementtimeis,itself,dividedintotwo

compo-nents,na mely, recognitiontime’ a nd‘responsetime’ Recognitiontime

istheperiodforwhichthea la rmsigna lisevidentb toc u a ntsa renot

yet respondingtoit Duringthis period, oc u a nts continuewiththeir

norma la ctivities.Responsetimeistheperioda fteroc u a ntsrecognize

tha t they a re being given a n instruction to eva cua te, b t before they

begintomovedirectlytoa nexit

Inthefireengine ringa pproa ch,ared ctioninresponsetimema ybe

a ssumedifaV Asystemisused.(However,ca reshouldbeta kentoensure

tha t,insitua tionswithra pidfiredevelopment,thea ssumedbenefitofa

V Asystemisnotover ta ted;ultima tely,theremustcomeapointinfire

growth when eva cua tion wi begin, rega rdles of whether a n a udible

a la rmha sevenbe ngiven.)Eq a lly,withinc ea singuseofV Asystems,

therea resuggestionstha tthisbenefitma ynotnowbea sgrea t.Thisma y

betheresultofex osureofthep blctofa lsea la rmsf oma utoma ticfire

detectionsystems in which wa rningisgivenb aV A system Evenso,

BS9 9 ,forexa mple,permitstra veldista ncestoexitstobeinc ea sedb

1 per cent a nd do r widths to be red ced b 1 per cent if there is

a utoma tic firedetection(prima riysmoke detection) a daV Asystem,

providedtheseshowaclea rbenefit

I isclea r, therefore,tha t aV Asystememployingspe chmes a ges is

notsimplyanew-fa ngledformoffirea la rmsigna l.Thespecificuseofa

V A system, ra ther tha n conventiona l sounder , ma y form a n integra l

pa rtofthefiresa fetystra tegyfortheb iding.Inper ormingthisrole,it

ma y,therefore,notsimplya cta sa na lterna tiveformof irewa rning,b t

a neces a ry form of fire wa rning, given the na ture of the stra tegy

proposed

TheCodeha sbe nwrit entoguidea ll nterestedpa rtiesinvolvedina ny

sta geofaVAinsta lla tionproject,bothtech ica llya ndintermsofproject

ma na gement Covera ge extends therefore f om mic ophones to lou

-spea ker viaa mplfier ,b ta lsof ominitia lpla nningtosystemma

inte-na nceviadesigna ndha ndover

Therecommenda tionsofBS583 -8ba sica llya pplytoa nyV Asystem

tha t is a utoma tica lly triggered b , a nd therefore efectively forms a n

integra lpa rt of, afirea la rmsystem Norma lly,VAsystemsa reusedin

b idingsinwhichthereisasignifica nta mountofa utoma ticfire

detec-tion, b ttherecommenda tionsoftheCodewoulda pplyevenifthefire

a la rmsystem were p relyama nua l (brea kgla ssca ll point) system In

this respect, theCodeinter a ces per ectlywithBS 583 -1, a dvisingon

thecon ectionsbetwe nthefiredetectiona ndfirea la rmsystema ndthe

V Asystem,a swel a sontheinforma tiontha tmustbefedba ckf omthe

V A system to the fire detection a nd fire a la rm system (The previous

sentence presu poses tha t the two systems a re entirely sepa ra te; this

ne dnot, ofcour e, betheca se, a ndthe a va ila bi tyofful yintegra ted

firedetection/ voicea la rmsystemsha sgrown,a spredicted,sincethefir t

editionofthisbo kwa sp bl shed.)

V Asystemsothertha nthoseofTy eV 1(se Cha pter7) ncorpora tea

fa ci ty for lve spe ch broa dca st V A systems within the s ope ofthe

Codemust,however,a lwa ysha veafa ci tyfora utoma tictra nsmis ionof

pre-recorded mes a ges Asystemtha t req iresma nua linterventionb

a n opera tor in order to tra nsmit either pre-recorded or lve mes a ges

wouldnotcomewithinthes opeoftheCode,norwouldsuchasystem

genera llyberega rdeda sa ccepta bleforfirewa rningp rposes.Thus,the

simplest V A system to which the Code would a pply would be one in

which, forexa mple, there wa sonlyasingle mes a ge(a ndthus asingle

sta gea la rma rra ngement)tha twa sa utoma tica llytriggeredb a na ssoci

a ted fire detection a nd fire a la rm system (whether incorpora ting

a utoma ticfiredetector ornot).S stemsusedinla rgecomplexeswi ,of

cour e, be much more sophistica ted, ty ica lly involving tens of lou

-spea kerzones, severa lemergencymic ophones,multipleeva cua te/ a lert

a nd test mes a ges, severa l diferent ty es of lou spea ker a nd often

va riousma nua lcontrolstosta rta ndstopmes a ges

The Code a ppl es eq a llyto centra lized systems, in whicha ll power

a mplfier a re insta lled a t a single loca tion, a nd distrib ted systems,

where power a mplfier , etc a re loca ted in grou s a t stra tegic points

a round ab iding Thechoicebetwe nthetwoty esofsystemis ba si

ca llyama tterofeconomic a ndengine ring‘ta ste’ b texa ctlythesa me

recommenda tions a pply to both ty es ofsystems Some recommenda

-tions ofthe Code ma y a ppea r q ite onerous for sma ll systems b t the

view ta kenwa s tha t system forma t wa s a nengine ringis ueto which

a bsolutelyconsistentrecommenda tionsshoulda pply

Fir etelephonesarespecificallyexclu edsinc etheymak eu anentir ely

sepa ra te form of communica tion system, now refer ed to a s a n

emer-gencyvoice communica tionsystem AV Asystemisintendedto inform

theoc u a ntsofab idingcolectivelyoftheexistenceofafire.Fire

tele-phones, ontheother ha nd, a reprovidedforopera tiona l useb thefire

a ndres ueserviced ringthefire,a ndforuseb firewa rdensina n

emer-gencyor, muchmore commonly, disa bledper ons req iringa ssista nce

witheva cua tion Acodeofpra cticecoveringsuchsystems, BS583 -9,

1

wa sp blshedin2 0

V oicea la rmsusedforfirewa rning,a ndconformingtoBS583 -8,ma y

beusedforwa rningofotherty esofemergency,sucha sbombwa rnings,

etc Thepotentia l useofV A systemsfor this p rposeis fulya ck owl

ed edinBS583 -8,whichprovidesreleva ntrecommenda tionsinrespect

of, for exa mple, prioritiza tion This continues to represent a distinct

diference f om recognized pra ctice in the USA , where use of a V A

system for p rposes other tha n fire wa rning would ne d

specia la pprova l.Thea ccepta nceofV Asystemsfor multipleemergency

situa tions a nd for non-emergency broa dca sts, such a s pa ging, ba

ck-ground music, etc is extremely importa nt, a s it often ma kes the

V Asystemeconomica llyvia ble insitua tions inwhich ap blc a ddres

system is req ired for other p rposes This is considered further in

Cha pter14 IfoneweredesigningaV Asystemforp rposesothertha n

firewa rning,a lthoughthiswouldnotlewithinthes opeoftheCode,its

12

BS5 3 -9:2 0 Fir dete tionan fir alarms stems o buidings—Code fpractic

fr the deign,instalation, c mmis ioning an maintenanc o emer genc v ic c mmuni

cations stems

recommenda tions would nevertheles be a ppropria te if there were a

ne dforhighrela bi tya ndintegrityofthewa rningsystem

Origina lly,BS583 -8didnota pplytoV Asystemsusedinsports ta dia

beca useoftheexistenceofthecodeofpra ctice,BS782 ,whichprovides

recommenda tions for the insta lla tion, ma intena nce a nd opera tion of

perma nently insta lled sound systems used for emergency p rposes a t

sportsvenues.However,mostoftherecommenda tionsoftheCodea pply

tosuchsystemsa ndthiswa srecognizedina nA mendmenttotheCode,

introd cedin2 0 Therevisedver ionofBS583 -8nowincludesmore

informa tionreleva nt to sportsvenues,b t,intheScope,sti refer the

rea dera lsotoBS782

Thefir tver ionoftheCode,a lthougha ninsta lla tioncodeofpra ctice,

conta ined a number ofrecommenda tions for the design of ha rdwa re

Thisa rosebeca useofthea bsenceofprod ct sta nda rdsforcomponents

ofV Asystems.Withthea dventofBSEN54-1 ,aprod ct sta nda rdfor

control a nd indica ting eq ipment for V A systems (inclu ing mic

o-phones), it ha s be n pos ible to remove much of tha t informa tion

Recommenda tions for a ppropria te lou spea ker , however, ha ve ha d to

bereta inedintherevisedCodebeca usethenewsta nda rdBSEN54-24

1

forV Asystemlou spea ker do snot(a tthetimeofthiseditiongoingto

pres ) inclu e req irements for fire-rela ted mecha nica l a nd electrica l

integrityoflou spea ker a ndtheircon ections

The Code continues to a pply onlyto V A systems tha t a re used in a

tempera teclma tesucha stha toftheUK

Intheorigina l Code, recommenda tions for theuseofvoice sounder

(sta nd-a lone devices con ected to fire a la rm systems, conta ining the

components neces a ry to genera te a nd broa dca st their own digita lly

recorded mes a ges) were inclu ed in a n a nnex Inrecognition oftheir

inc ea singuse,voicesounder a renowdea ltwithinasepa ra tecla useof

therevisedCode

13

BSEN5 -2 :2 0 Fir detetionan fir alarms stems.Components f oic alarm

s stems.Loudspea e s

Thepresenta tionoftherevisedCodeha sbe ntota llya lteredtofolowa

pra cticespecifica tionforma t Thisma kesforconciserecommenda tions,

with sepa ra te commenta ries (in ita lic ) Those checking wha t

recom-menda tionsa pplytoapa rticula rfea tureofaV Asystemshouldtherefore

bea bletodosoq ickly,whistthosewhowishtocheckontherea soning

behindthemca ndosointhecommenta ry Theorigina lCodewa sq ite

intentiona llydra ftedtofolowa ndpa ra lleltheforma tofBS583 -1:1 8

and the revised ver ion retains that a proach, b t now emulating

BS 583 -1:2 1 Thetitle ofea chofthesixsections oftheCodecor

e-spondstoatitleinPa rt1 Thesetitlesa re:

Userresponsibi ties

Foura nnexesprovidefurtherinforma tiononanumberofis ues

Thesesixsectionsa resu dividedintoatota lof4 cla uses,whicha re

brieflyreviewed,a longwiththefoura nnexes,below,highlghting

impor-ta nta spectstha twi lbedis us edinsu seq entcha pter ofthisGuide

Section 1 –General

1.Scope

The s ope ofthe Code ha sbe ndis us edinthepreviouscha pter The

importa nt point istha t theV A systems covered b theCode a re those

whicha utoma tica llytra nsmitmes a gesinresponsetosigna lsf oma

sso-cia ted fire detection a nd fire a la rm systems; systems tha t neces ita te

ma nua linterventiona reoutsidethes opeoftheCode

2 Normati verefere ces

Ina ccorda ncewithcur entBSIpra ctice(diferentf omtha ta pplyinga t

thetimeofp blca tionoftheorigina lver ionoftheCode),only‘Norma

-tive’referencesa ppea rinSection2 Norma tive’referencesa reba sica lly

othersta nda rdsa nd codes(or Europea nDirectives), providingreq

ire-mentsorrecommenda tionstha tshouldbefol owed.Most,b tnota ll,of

thesea re,inthisca se, BSI p blca tions

If, inthe Code, anorma tive referenceinclu es ada te, the edition of

tha tda te,only,a pples( ogetherwitha nya mendmentstothereference

tha tha vebe nma depriortothep blca tionofBS 583 -8) Ifthe

refer-enceisunda tedintheCode,thela testeditionofthedocumenta pples,

togetherwitha nya mendments

Ma nynorma tivereferencesintheCodea reda ted,sincetheya re

refer-encestosectionsorcla usesofasta nda rdp blshedonapa rticula rda te

However, inthe ca se ofnorma tive references tha t a re unda ted, over a

period oftimethe recommenda tions ofBS 583 -8could cha ngesubtly,

beca useofcha ngestotherecommenda tionsorreq irementsconta ined

innorma tivereferences.I is,therefore,importa nt ha tuser oftheCode

ensure tha t they refer to the la test ver ion of unda ted norma tive

references

3 Termsanddefi nit ions

Cla use3nowdefines2 termsusedinBS583 -8astheyar tobeu de

-sto df rthepurp s o inte pr tin theCode.Theseinclu eadefinition

of‘voicea la rmsystem’itself

Some of the terms defined ma y be unfa mi a r to those in the fire

ind stry,a sop osedtothesoundsystemsind stry.Oneimporta nt erm

is ‘intel gibi ty’ a pa rticula rly importa nt pa ra meter in V A system

per orma nce.Intel gibi tyisdis us edinCha pter1 ofthisGuide.The

terms‘emergencylou spea kerzone’a nd‘PAzone’a rea lsodefinedhere;

itisimporta nttodistinguishthesefomfiredetectionzones

4 Ne dforav i cealarm syst em

Thisshortcla useistherea saguidetothosetryingtoesta blshwhethera

V A system is a ctua lly req ired for a pa rticula r premises I ba sica lly

refer the rea der to a ppropria te guida nce documents, sta nda rds a nd

enfor inga uthorities

5 Typesofsystems

V Asystemsca nha veva ryingdegre sofma nua lcontrolofbroa dca st of

emergencymes a ges, whether lve or recorded The revised ver ion of

theCodethereforegrou sV Asystemsintoty es,ea chofwhichdefinesa

pa rticula rcombina tionofa utoma tica ndma nua lcontrol.More

informa-tiona boutty esof ystem,a ndtheirselectionisgiveninCha pter7

6 E changeofi nformati onandrespo si bilit ies

Inthecommenta ry, theCodema kesitclea rtha tthep rposeoftheV A

systemistosu porttheb iding’sfiresa fetystra teg (a nob iouspoint,

ma de in the previous ver ion of the Code, b t empha sized more in

therevisedver ion) To a chieve tha t objective, pa rticula rlyincomplex

premises,therene dstobela isonbetwe nthesystemdesigner,theuser

orp rc haser,theenfor inga uthorityand,pos ibly ,spec ialistconsultants

Therecommenda tionscla rifytheresponsibi tiesforl a isonoftheuser

orp r ha ser,thedesignera ndtheinsta llertoensuretha ttheV Asystem

isa ppropria teina llrespects.Theyinclu earecommenda tiontoensure

tha toneorga niza tionisresponsiblefortheovera llfiredetectiona ndfire

a la rm system/ voice a la rm system pa cka ge The importa nce of this

ca nnotbeoverempha sized,sincema nyoftheshortcomingstha texistin

insta lled systems ha ve a risen f om a n a pproa ch inwhich a fire a la rm

compa nyha sbe nresponsibleforthedesignofthefiredetectionsystem

whie asoundsystemscompa nyha s be nresponsiblefor thedesign of

theV Asystem.Theresult,insuchca ses,ha ssometimesbe napa cka ge

tha t, in va rious respects, ha s fa iled to provide the integrity a nd rel

a bi tyreq iredforafirewa rningsystem

Cla use6 a lsodis us es is uessucha sthene dtodeterminewhether

theV Asystemistobeusedforotherp rposes

7 Variat ionsfromtherecomme dat ionsofthi sst andard

Thiscla useinclu esrecommenda tionsfortherecordingofva ria tionsa t

design, insta lla tion a nd commis ioning sta ges I ha s be n introd ced

heretoke ptheorderof ectionssimia rtothoseinBS583 -1

Section 2 –Design considerations

8 R elat ionshipbet we n syst emt ypeande acuat ion plan

The p rposeofthis cla useisto give some guida nceonthety esofV A

systemstha twouldbea ppropria tefordiferentb idings,withdifering

eva cua tionstra tegies.SincetheCodedo snotsetout odefinetheexa ct

system ne ded for a nyspecific b iding, most ofthe cla use consists of

commenta ry Recommenda tionsinclu ethene dfor ariska sses ment

todeterminethea ppropria tety e

9 Int erfcewi ththefiredetecti on andfirealarm syst em

This la useformedpa rtofa‘Genera l’cla useintheorigina lver ionofthe

Code.However,itisa nes entia la ndc itica lpa rtofaV Asystema ndha s

nowrightlybe nwrit ena sasepa ra tecla use.Recommenda tionsforthe

ln inclu edinthe‘old’Codea rereta inedb t hereisanew

recommen-da tionforgrea terprotectiona ga instcompletefa ilureoftheln

10 Systemsinex losiveg sordustatmosph res

Origina llyintrod cedunder A mendment No 1 a s asu cla useof

‘Gen-era l’inSection2oftheorigina lCode,thisindivid a lcla usenowfolows

thepa tterninBS 583 -1

1 Systemcompo e ts

Thisnewcla uselststhesta nda rdstowhichcomponentsofaV Asystem

shouldconform.Noneofthesesta nda rds werep blsheda t thetimeof

p bl ca tionofthepreviouseditionofthisCode.Theirexistenceha snow

ena bled ma ny ofthe prod ct-rela ted recommenda tions in the origina l

ver ionoftheCodetoberepla cedb simplereferencestothem

12 Mo i tori ng,i ntegri tyandreliabilityofci rcuit sexternalt ot hev i cealarmcontrol

andindi cati ngeq i pme t(VACIE)

Therecommendationsinthisc lausearenowdiv idedintotwosu c lauses,

‘Fa ultmonitoring’a nd‘S stemintegrity’ forcla rifica tion.A lla spectsof

fa l tmoni tor ingar ead d r es ed ,inc l ud ingthemonitor i ngofthec r i ti c all in

betwe nthefi r ed etec ti onandfi r ealar msy stemandtheVAsy stem.Ad vi c e

isa lsogivenontheloca tiona twhichfa ultindica tionsshouldbegiven

The cla use gives very deta iled a dvice on the na ture of the fa ilures

withinthesystemtha tshouldbeindica ted,a swel a sdes ribingtheform

ofindica tiontha tshouldbeprovided

The ‘S stem integrity’ section cover such a spects a s the ne d or

otherwiseford plca tionoflou spea kercir uits

13 L oudspeak erzo es

Thiscla useefectivelyintrod cestheconceptof‘emergencylou spea ker

zones’ Pa rticula ra ttentionisgiventothene dfora cousticsepa ra tion

betwe ndiferentlou speak erzonesandtherelationshipbetwe n

bound-a riesofemergencyloudspea kera ndfiredetectionzones

14 L oudspeak er

Fa ctor toconsiderinselectionofthety e,number, loca tiona nd

orien-ta tion oflou spea ker a re conta ined within the commenta ry A lso, in

thisver ionoftheCode,morerecommenda tionsa rema derega rding,for

exa mple,lou spea kermountinga rra ngements Withrega rdto ty es of

lou spea ker,thea nnexinclu edinthepreviousver ionoftheCodeha s

notbe nreta inedbeca useitwa snotconsideredtobeofmuchbenefitto

thosewhowouldnorma llydesignV Asystems

Considera tionisgivento theprotectionoflou spea ker a ga inst fire

Inthisrespect,theCodeofer a dvicebeyondtha t oferedinrespect of

conventiona la la rmsounder inBS583 -1,a nda dditiona ltothereq

ire-mentsofBSEN54-24

15 Voicesounder

Inrecognitionoftheirinc ea sedusa ge, voicesounder a renowcovered

b thisma incla useinthenewver ionoftheCode.Guida nce,including