Fire Alarm: New Installation

New Construction
We can work with any contractor to set up your new fire alarm system.
We will start the job by making the plans needed for the installation
and getting them stamped by the Fire Marshall having jurisdiction
(unless you wish to provide your own plans, which will also need to be
stamped by the Fire Marshall before we can begin our installation).
After the exterior/interior walls are put up, but before the drywall is
installed on the interior walls and ceiling, we will install all the fire
rated wire, conduit, and electrical boxes where the devices will
eventually be placed. (Electricians may be hired by the contractor to
install all electrical boxes and conduit. If this is the case, we can work
with the electricians to make sure the boxes and conduit are placed in
the proper positioning by the national and local fire code.) Finally, once
the entire building is finished, we will come back and install all the
final devices. It is very important that the contractor in charge informs
our office of the timing of these two different stages so we can come to
the job site and continue our installation properly.

Old Construction
We can install a brand new fire alarm system in any old residence or
building that does not have a current fire alarm system. We can also
replace an old out-dated fire alarm system with a brand new one. We
will start the job by making the plans needed for the installation and
getting them stamped by the Fire Marshall having jurisdiction (unless
you wish to provide your own plans, which will also need to be
stamped by the Fire Marshall before we can begin our installation).
Then we will install all the fire rated wire, conduit, electrical boxes,
and devices. Depending on the building type and style, there might be
a lot more conduit used and wire showing compared to new
construction, because the wires cannot be hidden in the walls since the
drywall is already installed.

Expanding Current System
We can add more devices to your current fire alarm system, without
completely replacing it if the parts are still available. (Some systems
may be too old to find compatible parts to replace defective devices or
to expand your current system. We will have to make sure the parts are
available before we can expand on your current system.) We will add
any new fire rated wire, conduit, electrical boxes, and devices needed to
expand your current system. It is very important to check with your
authority having jurisdiction before these plans are made, due to local
fire alarm codes, grandfather laws and so forth.

Telephone Lines
A fire alarm system requires its own dedicated phone line. The purpose is
to make sure that the system can constantly dial out to the monitoring
system. If the system is sharing a phone line with anything else like a
telephone or fax, then a constant signal is not possible. This may mean
that you will need to get a second phone line.

Electrical
All fire alarm control panels and power supplies must have their own
dedicated breaker. This is to help prevent the breaker from blowing by
having other devices on the breaker. Therefore, electrical wiring will
need to be installed from the breaker to the panels needed. You will
need to find an electrician to install the wiring or we can recommend
one to you.