Episode 23 | IT&M and more...

In this episode Bryan, Charles, and Chris discuss essential skills for fire alarm system inspection, testing, and maintenance, emphasizing the importance of code compliance, transferability of skills, and proper testing procedures for various fire detection devices.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Hello again and welcome to the Temporal Three Podcast. I'm your host, Brian McLean, and I am joined by my co-host, Charles Olner. Hello, Charles.

SPEAKER_00 0:14

Hi.

SPEAKER_01 0:15

And my other co-host, Chris Godwin. Hey everyone. What's going on? Well, guys, we want to start out today talking about something that we get asked in our NISAT classes. Why do you guys ask us to look up everything in the code, even if we know it? Chris, you teach a lot of our NISAT classes. Why do we ask people to do that?

SPEAKER_02 0:37

This is this is one of the most important things for the NYSAT exam, is building the ability to find information in the codes. This is one of the hardest things to teach because a lot of the times, especially if it's students that have been doing this for a long time, doing fire alarm for a long time, they know what the answer is. Being able to find it is essentially what the exam's trying to make you do. It's not so much a test of how good are you at your job. It is a test of I have books. Can you find what I need you to find in these books? And it it's it's it's funny that we're you know talking about this topic. I had had a class earlier that students were I the were complaining about. The instructor said that we are supposed to be looking it up, but I already know what the answer is. I know what the we're not building on what you already know. We're building on a skill that you can transfer over to stuff that you do not know. And that is one of the things that is most important going into this into this exam. There's gonna be plenty of stuff that you know. There's gonna be a lot more stuff that you just don't know, and being able to being able to know how to use the code to find that is the skill that needs to be developed.

SPEAKER_01 1:53

The analogy I like to use is mounting height of a pull station. That's kind of day one of fire alarm that you learn. Pulsations are three and a half to four feet. And I always say to people, okay, you know that. Can you find it in the code? But not only can you find it in the code, can you find it in the code like really quick, like in a minute and a half, which is about the amount of time nice it gives you per question? And most people will struggle with that. They've never had to look it up. And then they, as Chris said, they push back on it. Well, why do I have to look it up? I know it. It's not a matter of finding the information you know in the niceties in, it's being able to find that other information that is right around there that you don't know. Like the travel disk, minimum travel distance to a pole station, or how far from the door, what do you do with grouped openings, or combination poll station and guard tour, or the fact the poll stations are required to be read, all in that same section in 1750. Charles, what's your take on this?

SPEAKER_00 2:48

Well, I look at it just like any other skill. Repetition is what it takes to get good at it. And a boxer hits a heavy bag over and over and over again, not just once and say, Oh, I know how to do that now. It's a skill that they have to develop that muscle memory for by continuously exercising those muscles. Our NISAT exam and looking things up in the code is the same way. We have to exercise that skill in order to get good at it, and then it doesn't matter what we're looking up, we get confronted with a code question. Boom, we know how to look it up within a short time period, we're more successful as a result.

SPEAKER_02 3:38

Absolutely. One other thing that I really, really like about this skill is if you can do this in one code book, you can transfer it to all the code books. You know, Charles, you use the analogy of a boxer hitting a heavy bag, and that's to develop the ability to do the one thing. But then you take it to the next part and you go off to sparring, and it's the exact same thing. You take it off to another code and you start learning the same things that you did, and you reinforce that skill. This is a transferable skill to nice at and not just that, but to the field. If you're out in the field and you're having to use your books, which book do I go into? Yeah, you got all the time that you need, but that ability to transfer that skill is very, very important for work. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 4:30

Guys, next topic I'd like to talk about today is uh another favorite chapter of ours in NFTA 72, the National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code. That is chapter 14. 14 is inspection, testing, and maintenance of fire alarm systems. And 14 talks about three critical functions for fire alarm systems inspection, which is visual. As I like to say, we do inspections with our hands behind our back. We don't touch anything when we inspect it, we just look at it. Testing, and testing is introduction of stimuli to make the device operate. So that involves using our hands usually and sometimes using specialized tools or equipment to perform that stimuli. And then finally, maintenance. And maintenance is anything that we've identified during inspection or testing that requires maintenance. Chris, do we do a class for inspection and testing of fire alarm systems?

SPEAKER_02 5:25

Inspection testing is probably one of our most talked-about things across the board. We talk about it in the nice in the NISAT prep. We do a full hands-on class on inspection testing, and we do a full NISET class for NISET inspection testing fire alarm systems. We talk about inspection and testing just about every single it is the most significant aspect of fire alarm out there, and it is we talk about it all the time, and it's because it is so important. If your system is not having regular inspection and testing, how are you gonna know when the maintenance is gonna be needed? How are you going to know that everything is still functional? How do you know that everything still looks good and it's pretty? That's the make sure it's pretty.

SPEAKER_01 6:17

Charles, is inspection and testing an important revenue stream for fire alarm companies?

SPEAKER_00 6:23

Yes, absolutely. It's one of the most important aspects of fire alarm contracting out there. Inspection and testing is something we do. It's required by code, it's required by local jurisdictions. It has to be done for every single fire alarm system that's installed without exception.

SPEAKER_01 6:44

Absolutely. So, I mean, it's it's got to be done. It's it's a shall, not a should, and uh that makes it a great revenue source. So, Chris, in our inspection and testing workshop, we talk about classification of different issues with a fire alarm system, including impairment deficiency and observation. Would you talk about those for a moment? The difference between them.

SPEAKER_02 7:07

So with your deficiencies, what we look at and from perspective code is does it still work, but there is something causing it to not be at its 100% best functionality? Is it so for an example would be hey, you've got a pool station and there's a cabinet in front of it. That's deficiency. That pool station probably still works, but there's something preventing its proper operation. And it done work. Now, when you look at an impairment, it could be the device doesn't work, it could be an appliance, or it could be looking at it from a perspective of the entire system. It really depends on your company policy, how your AHJ interprets that. When I was out on the field doing work, our policy was if one thing doesn't work, the system's an impaired. The system itself is impaired because the system's not 100% functional. And that was one way that we went about it. Now, when we look to how it's talked about in the code, it comes down to does it work or does it not work? If it does not work, this is going to be an impairment. How you go about doing that impairment, it depends. And then lastly, we get into something that is finely defined in NFPA 72 in the 2022 edition of it, and that is an observation. Absolutely love that this is something that's being brought up in the code because what an observation is, it's not a fault, it's not a deficiency, it's not an impairment, it is something that the technician has noticed from the system to tell the customer that, hey, you have this, it's not a problem now, but potentially this could cause issues later on down the line. It gives us a way to put that in writing and communicate it to the building owner. They don't have to do anything about it, but it's in writing now, and that is the part that it protects a lot of technicians from down-the-road issues on having that kind of thing out in the field. So absolutely love that. I'm so happy that that is finally being brought to light with the code, and it is part of it.

SPEAKER_01 9:18

Absolutely. That's something that our friends on the Sprinkler side have been doing for years and are really, really good at identifying ish potential issues like a change of occupancy or addition of uh storage, rack storage to their customers and recommending that their designer come out and evaluate the system. And uh, it's a revenue opportunity, is what it is. And I like I said, the uh sprinkler people have been doing it for years, and I'm glad it's finally in the fire alarm code because hopefully that'll drive the fire alarm people to do it. So, Charles, uh smoke detectors obviously require inspection, but also require testing. What kind of testing is required for smoke detectors?

SPEAKER_00 9:54

Well, uh the manufacturer's instructions give us some indication of that and how to do a test, but the code also lists specific requirements as well. And from the code's perspective, it wants to see an actual function of the device. So just tripping it by shorting the circuit or using a magnet is not an acceptable way to test. They want to see actual smoke enter the chamber and prove that that detector reacts appropriately. Very important aspect of testing smoke detectors.

SPEAKER_02 10:33

Now, Charles, you you said something in there that um I'd like for you to repeat. Something about can you use magnets?

SPEAKER_00 10:42

No, no magnets. Even if you take the magnet and put it in the smoke chamber, that doesn't count.

SPEAKER_02 10:51

So many times that that that is that is in class, so many times. But can you use magnets? No, no, it's not a function of test.

SPEAKER_00 11:00

And I would say as long as you do the functional test according to the schedule in the code, you can use magnets whenever you want. Right. So from a service standpoint, if I'm testing a circuit or I just want to do a quick check, sure, I could use a magnet, but I need to use that functional test of smoke entering the chamber on the schedule set out by the code.

SPEAKER_01 11:28

You know, that brings up a great point, guys, about the uh the definition of a uh test, which is introducing stimuli, does a magnet introduce smoke to the detector? No. Simulates it, basically, all it does is activate a relay or uh, you know, a triple-reed switch, but it doesn't actually simulate smoke being introduced to the detector. So unless it specifically says in the manufacturer's instructions that a magnet will perform a functional test, uh basically you're gonna get out the can smoke. Chris, are you gonna empty the can to the detector? Well, yeah, every single time. It's exact exactly one can for a detector.

SPEAKER_02 12:06

Five minutes, and if it goes off, just keep going because there's five more cans you got to go through. Now, uh problem with emptying the can is you're gonna have too much over buildup in the actual detector. It's gonna fall out of sensitivity range and you're gonna have to replace it. And if you got technicians that are doing that all the time, it's gonna get expensive with your smoke detectors replacing them every you know year and a half, two years based off of that. But what the way that you should be doing your spray about a foot back from the detector, and it is a quick half a second to maybe a full second of just shh and that's it, done. Wait ten seconds, if it doesn't go back in, do it again. Now that's how it's supposed to be done. Are there ways to make it a little bit more advantageous? Uh like blocking one direction from wind and then doing that? Maybe there's options, but you shouldn't be sitting there spraying an entire can into it. That's gonna cause a lot of people.

SPEAKER_01 13:13

To paraphrase Tom Petty, the waiting is the hardest part. People get impatient with the detectors and want it to go off immediately, as Chris said, you know, it's a half second to one second from a foot away and wait. Wait for the detector to respond. Modern smoke detectors have alarm verification built in, so they're gonna it may delay the actual activation of the device. And um it's something that we really need to have patience with before we start, as as uh Chris was saying, from all sides of the detector and everything else. So there's another test that we do on smoke detectors. Chris, what would that be? Sensitivity testing? Sensitivity. Sensitivity testing. And that there are different ways of accomplishing that. There's the calibrated smoke test, which we'll typically do on older detectors. That involves a Gemini or the SDI uh calibrated smoke generator, which takes a bit of time and is expensive gear. But there's also capability of doing control unit testing and detector signaling as well, which is we're gonna say if detectors are less than 20 years old, they probably have that capability as well. And that is a different interval, doesn't it, Chris?

SPEAKER_02 14:21

Yeah. With sensitivity testing, when you're actually having to do it, your interval varies depending on how it did the last time. So if you're actually doing sensitivity testing the first year after installation, you sensitivity test. If it passes, two years later, you sensitivity test. If it passes, you can extend that to every five years. However, if you've got more modern smoke detectors that are addressable and you have an addressable panel, the panel monitors that the panel actually keeps eyes on that, and when your detectors fall out of range, it sends a trouble. Which brings that frequency down to you don't do it. You don't have to do sensitivity testing because it's being constantly monitored.

SPEAKER_01 15:07

So, Charles, doesn't the code require that smoke detectors be replaced every 10 years?

SPEAKER_00 15:12

No, it does not. The code does have a stipulation that smoke alarms need to be replaced, not smoke detectors, they're two totally different things. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 15:25

So there is a difference between the two devices. That's very interesting. That's a that's a topic for another uh another uh uh podcast. So testing requirements, even for smoke detectors, are going to vary subtly by device. And we talk about spot type smokes. You know, what we think of as a smoke detector is technically a spot type smoke, functional and sensitivity, but what about beam detectors, Chris? Do we have to do sensitivity testing of beam detectors?

SPEAKER_02 15:51

I always laugh at this because I'm trying to figure out how at any point you would look at doing that as a sensitivity test. And it's just not something that we have to do. It's not something that is in code, it's not something that we do. You do a functional test with it. You got options on the how, but it's it's a functional test, is all you got to do for beam detectors. There's not a sensitivity test to it. Does it work? Is all that we're really looking at with that.

SPEAKER_01 16:18

Same thing with air sampling. I'm sorry, air sampling, uh, same type of thing. Just a functional test, not a sensitivity test. You do test the transit time on initial installation, but it's not a requirement for uh periodic testing. Duct detectors, very similar uh basically duct detectors, usually have a spot type smoke. They have a functional and a sensitivity, but they have another test. What do they require additionally?

SPEAKER_02 16:41

You said the bad word. You said the bad word.

SPEAKER_01 16:44

I'm sorry, I hit a nerve with Chris. He he loves, he's a big fan of duct detectors.

SPEAKER_02 16:49

You said the bad word of duct detectors. You still gotta do sensitivity tests with your with your duct detectors, but there's another test that you gotta do with that, and that's your oh, the words are always gonna be different no matter how we look at it. You gotta make sure that you got the correct airflow. It's a differential air pressure testing. You gotta have a specialized tool for it. You gotta make sure that you have the correct amount of airflow going from your intake to the exhaust. And those are from when you look at it from a exterior mounted duct detector, the tubes. You've got the tube that is your sampling tube, and then you've got the exhaust tube. And we're seeing how how much air flows through across the two of them. If it's too much, the detector doesn't work appropriately. So differential air pressure testing.

SPEAKER_01 17:37

Yep. Differential air pressure with a manometer or a magna helic gauge, either one. Charles, how do we test smoke alarms?

SPEAKER_00 17:44

Uh, there's a test button right on the device. And we press that, make sure it works, and that's really all there is to it.

SPEAKER_01 17:53

Yeah, amazingly, smoke alarms don't require a functional smoke entry test. They just require pressing a button. Now, if you have a smoke detector, a system detector in a dwelling, a one-in-two family dwelling, how do we test that? That goes back to manufacturer's instructions, guys. So, whatever the manufacturer says, the manufacturer, and that's sometimes where the magnet test comes in, that sometimes they'll allow a magnet test, or they may require a smoke entry test. But first of all, in a in a one-in-two family dwelling, how many homeowners own a can of smoke spray? Or how many hire an external company to come in and test their smoke detectors, not very many. So usually it's going to be a push-button test or a magnet test, if even that.

SPEAKER_02 18:34

I was going to suggest you got hairstrike, and you got, you know, you're cooking, so there are definitely options.

SPEAKER_00 18:40

Chris is throwing out all kinds of unorthodox stuff. That that's not orthodox. That's not appropriate.

SPEAKER_01 18:48

Well, if cooking is a method of testing smoke detectors, then the smoke detectors get test in my house, get tested pretty regularly by my wife. Fortunately, she does not subscribe to this podcast, so she won't hear that joke. Yeah, she's gonna get that clip. Carolyn will make sure of it. So finally, smoke detectors with heats, you know, fairly common device. What do we do with those? Do we do we just test one uh function? Are we good? Talking about smoke, smoke heat detector combination?

SPEAKER_02 19:17

Yes. You gotta test both. Gotta test both. It does two things, you gotta make sure it does both things. If it only does the one thing, it's not a combination device anymore, and we have a problem because it's supposed to be a combination device. You gotta test for both. You gotta ensure that both aspects are working and they are functional. And that's gonna come down to you testing for doing the smoke detector test, so getting your smoke spray, and you're gonna have to get your heat source for the heat detector. Uh not a not a lighter, not a not a torch. Don't do that. Open flame? No, no, don't do that. That's bad.

SPEAKER_01 19:54

No, no, no open flames. Get the good old listed UL listed blow dryer or uh another uh acceptable heat source. If you work for a company that is willing to spend money on tools, you might even have one of those fancy uh SDI testers, heat detector testers. Well, gentlemen, it's been interesting and informative as usual. I do appreciate you taking the time to join us for the podcast. Everybody out there, remember to subscribe, and we'll see y'all next time. Thanks again.