The Design, Installation, Commissioning and Maintenance of Fire Detection and Fire Alarm Systems in Non-domestic Premises: A Guide to BS 5839-1:2013

324 Pages·2013·11.73 MB·English

by  Colin S. Todd

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© BSI copyright
The Design, Installation,
Commissioning and
Maintenance of Fire Detection
and Fire Alarm Systems in
Non‑domestic Premises
A Guide to BS 5839‑1:2013

The Design, Installation,
Commissioning and
Maintenance of Fire
Detection and Fire
Alarm Systems in
Non‑domestic Premises
A Guide to BS 5839‑1:2013
Colin S. Todd
First edition published by CMP Information Ltd in 2003
Second edition published by BSI in 2006
Third edition published in 2008
This new edition first published in 2013
by
BSI Standards Limited
389 Chiswick High Road
London W4 4AL
© The British Standards Institution 2013
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988, no part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form
or by any means – electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise
– without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
Whilst every care has been taken in developing and compiling this
publication, BSI accepts no liability for any loss or damage caused,
arising directly or indirectly in connection with reliance on its contents
except to the extent that such liability may not be excluded in law.
While every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, anyone
claiming copyright should get in touch with the BSI at the above address.
BSI has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of
URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to
in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such
websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
The right of Colin S. Todd to be identified as the author of this
Work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77
and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Typeset in Century Schoolbook by Monolith
Printed in Great Britain by Berforts Group, www.berforts.co.uk
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 0 580 80753 4
As in the previous edition, this book is dedicated to my children,
Keith, Jayne and Fiona, all of whom make me proud every
day. And to Karen for her undying love and support.
(Plus a special mention for the cats of Hutton Roof.)
This current version is also dedicated to the memory of a good friend
and colleague of over 30 years, John Northey (1938-2010), a member
of the technical committee responsible for all versions of BS 5839-1
(and its predecessor, CP 1019) since the 1970s and chairman of the
committee for many years until the time of his death in 2010.
I would also wish to include in my dedications those fourteen souls
who died in the tragic fire at Rosepark Care Home in January 2004,
and all of their loved ones. Their deaths led to the amendment of
BS 5839-1 in 2013 and, hence, to this current revision of this book.
The fire safety profession, through improvements in standards,
will strive to ensure that such a tragic event never occurs again.
v

Contents
About the author ix
Foreword xi
1. Introduction 1
2. History of fire alarm installation codes 5
3. The format and layout of the code 29
4. Scope of BS 5839‑1:2013 33
5. Contents of the code 39
6. Defining the terms 57
7. Selecting a suitable fire alarm system 65
8. T he fire alarm contract and definition
of responsibilities 73
9. T he interface between the fire alarm system
and other systems 77
10. The components of the system 81
11. Design of fire alarm circuits 85
12. Detection zones and alarm zones 103
13. Communication with the fire and rescue service 111
14. A udible, visual and tactile fire alarm signals 119
15. Staged fire alarms 135
16. Manual call points 141
17. Which type of detector? 147
vii
Design, installation, commissioning and maintenance
18. S pacing and siting of automatic fire detectors 161
19. Control and indicating equipment 179
20. Networked systems 185
21. Power supplies 189
22. Cables and wiring 205
23. Radio‑linked systems 217
24. E lectrical safety and electromagnetic compatibility 223
25. False alarms and their limitation 227
26. Installation work 257
27. Inspection and testing 263
28. Commissioning 267
29. Documentation 273
30. Certification 279
31. Acceptance by the user or purchaser 283
32. Verification 287
33. Routine testing 291
34. Servicing 295
35. Repair and non‑routine attention 303
36. User responsibilities 309
viii
About the author
Colin Todd MSc, FIFireE, FBEng, MIRM, MSFPE, C.Phys,
FInstP, C.Eng, FIET graduated from Edinburgh University with an
honours degree in Physics. He then undertook a one year Master’s degree
in Fire Safety Engineering, developing a specific interest in quantitative
assessment of risk, mathematical modelling and systems engineering.
In 1975, he joined the captive insurance company of Unilever Ltd.
As a member of the risk management section, he carried out regular
fire surveys of Unilever premises and was responsible for providing
in-house advice on loss prevention matters. He later joined the technical
department of the Fire Offices’ Committee (FOC), which dealt with the
preparation of codes and standards on fire protection and approvals of
fire protection equipment. With the FOC he specialized in electrical
matters, and was responsible for assessing the suitability of fire alarm
equipment for FOC approval. During this time, he represented the FOC
on national committees including those of BSI. (The FOC was later
incorporated into the Loss Prevention Council and, subsequently, the
Building Research Establishment.)
Colin Todd is a chartered engineer and a Fellow of the Institution
of Engineering and Technology (formerly the Institution of Electrical
Engineers), the Institute of Physics, the Association of Building
Engineers and the Institution of Fire Engineers. He is a corporate
member of the Institute of Risk Management and the Society of Fire
Protection Engineers. He is also a standards associate of the British
Standards Society.
As the final President of the UK Chapter of the Society of Fire
Protection Engineers, he was instrumental in the merger between
that organization and the Society of Fire Safety Engineers to form the
Institute of Fire Safety, which subsequently became the Engineering
Council Division of the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) (now the
Registrants’ Group of the Institution). He is a previous member of
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