Fire Alarms

Complete guide to Mass Notification Systems (MNS) — wide-area MNS, in-building MNS, distributed recipient MNS, NFPA 72 Chapter 24 requirements, testing procedures, and campus/military/high-rise applications.

Compare conventional, addressable, and analog fire alarm systems. Learn how each works, inspection differences, common deficiencies, costs, and upgrade paths.

How to inspect and test fire alarm voice notification/evacuation systems per NFPA 72 — speaker placement, intelligibility testing, and common deficiencies.

Quick reference for fire alarm device placement and spacing per NFPA 72 — smoke detectors, heat detectors, pull stations, notification appliances, and common installation errors to flag during inspection.

Guide to fire protection in historic buildings — code compliance approaches, concealed sprinklers, wireless fire alarms, working with preservation boards, and inspection considerations.

Detailed comparison of addressable and conventional fire alarm systems for inspectors — architecture differences, testing procedures, troubleshooting, cost considerations, and when each type makes sense.

Complete guide to smoke detector sensitivity testing per NFPA 72 Chapter 14 — testing methods, acceptable ranges, cleaning procedures, and common deficiencies that inspectors catch.

Complete guide to duct smoke detector inspection, testing, and maintenance — NFPA 72 and NFPA 90A requirements, sampling tube cleaning, functional testing procedures, and common deficiencies.

Complete guide to fire alarm notification appliance inspection and testing including horns, strobes, horn/strobes, speakers, and mass notification systems per NFPA 72. Covers audibility requirements, candela ratings, ADA compliance, and field testing procedures.