B.E.

(INSTRUMENTATION & CONTROL)

SUBJECT: BUILDING AUTOMATION-II

EXPERIMENT NUMBER: 2

TITLE: TO STUDY FAS LOOPS AND

CLASSIFICATIONS

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TITLE: TO STUDY FAS LOOPS AND CLASSIFICATIONS

Introduction

There are many types of fire alarm systems each suited to different building types and
applications. A Fire Alarm System can vary dramatically in both price and complexity, from
a single panel with a detector and sounder in a small commercial property to an
addressable Fire Alarm System in a multi-occupancy building. As can be seen from this
example, these systems have to protect both buildings and occupants. The brief guide below
details classifications for commercial systems, we also have more information on domestic
fire alarm systems . The categories of fire alarm systems are "L" if they are designed to
protect life, "P" to protect buildings and "M" if they are manual systems.

M Fire Alarm System

Manual systems e.g. hand bells, gongs etc, may be purely manual or manual electric, the
latter may have call points and sounders. They rely on the occupants of the building
discovering the fire and acting to warn others by operating the system. Such systems form the

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basic requirement for places of employment with no sleeping risk. A Category M Fire Alarm
System is a manual operation only system which has call points on all exits as well as
corridors where persons are not expected to walk any more than 45m to operate one.

P1 Fire Alarm System

A system covering all parts of the premises.The system is installed throughout the building -
the objective being to call the fire brigade as early as possible to ensure that any damage
caused by fire is minimized. Small low risk areas can be excepted, such as toilets and
cupboards less than 1m².

P2 Fire Alarm System

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A system covering only those parts of a building having a high fire risk. Systems for
Protecting Life (L, M). A satisfactory fire alarm system for the protection of life can be relied
upon to sound a fire alarm while sufficient time remains for the occupants to escape. As a
guide, an escape route may be considered blocked once visibility drops
below 10 metres.Detection should be provided in parts of the building where the risk of
ignition is high and/or the contents are particularly valuable. Category 2 systems provide fire
detection in specified parts of the building where there is either high risk or where business
disruption must be minimized.

L1 Fire Alarm System

- A system covering all parts of the premises.A category L1 system is designed for the
protection of life, which has automatic detectors installed throughout all areas of the building
(including roof spaces and voids) with the aim of providing the earliest possible warning. A
Category L1 system is likely to be appropriate for the majority of residential care premises. In
practice, detectors should be placed in nearly all spaces and voids. With category 1 systems,
the whole of a building is covered apart from minor exceptions.

A L1 classification includes automatic fire detection in all rooms, on all escape routes and in
all voids over 800mm in height. Sounders positioned throughout the building to achieve a
minimum of 65dB (A) throughout the building and 75dB(A) at bedhead where there is a
sleeping risk. In areas of high ambient noise sound levels the fire alarm sound levels should
be 5dB(A) above the normal noise level although not exceeding 120dB(A).

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L2 Fire Alarm System

A system covering only those parts of a building where there is a high risk to life if there is
fire anywhere in the building. A category L2 system designed for the protection of life, which
has automatic detectors installed in escape routes, rooms adjoining escape routes and high
hazard rooms. In a medium sized premises (sleeping no more than ten residents) a category
L2 system is ideal. These fire alarm systems are identical to an L3 system but with additional
detection in an area where there is a high chance of ignition (e.g. kitchen) or where the risk to
people is particularly increased (e.g. sleeping risk).

Classification L2 System should include automatic fire detection on all escape routes and
rooms leading onto escape routes. An L2 system can also include additional areas deemed as
a high risk not included in the escape routes and adjoining rooms, such as boiler houses. The
sounders in the building should be according to the description in the Category L1
description as above.

L3 Fire Alarm System:

A system covering only areas critical to free passage along escape routes.This category is
designed to give early warning to everyone. Detectors should be placed in all escape routes
and all rooms that open onto an escape route. Category 3 systems provide more extensive
cover than category 4. The objective is to warn the occupants of the building early enough to
ensure that all are able to exit the building before escape routes become impassable.

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A Classification L3 system is very similar to a category L2 system in that automatic fire
detection should be positioned on escape routes and adjoining rooms, although it does not
have to include for additional areas deemed to have a high fire risk. The sounders in the
building should be according to the description in the Category L1 description as above.

L4 Fire Alarm System

Category L4 systems cover escape routes and circulation areas only. Therefore, detectors will
be placed in escape routes, although this may not be suitable depending on the risk
assessment or if the size and complexity of a building is increased. Detectors might be sited
in other areas of the building, but the objective is to protect the escape route.

Classification L4 system includes automatic fire detection on escape routes only, and not in
the adjoining rooms as per the L2 and L3 classifications. The sounders in the building should
be according to the description in the Category L1 description as above.

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L5 Fire Alarm System

This is the ‘all other situations’ category e.g. computer rooms, which may be protected with
an extinguishing system triggered by automatic detection. Category 5 systems are the
‘custom’ category and relate to some special requirement that cannot be covered by any other
category.A Classification L5 System is designed for buildings that have a particular fire risk
identified which warrants some special attention. For example if there is an area of high fire
risk which is considered worthy of having some automatic detection but a manual system is
also needed, then this will be termed as L5/M. The sounders in the building should be
according to the description in the Category L1 description as above.

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Class A fire alarm loops

Fire alarm systems save lives and protect property. Fire alarm systems also break down
because they're electrical. Class A or Class B wiring loops help the fire alarm panel to find
and fix these breakdowns (faults) before a fire, while there is time for repairs.

To keep more devices working, Class A uses a second path from the fire alarm panel; a
redundant wire loop goes around the broken wire. A fire can still be detected, because, using
this redundant path, most, if not all, devices on the loop remain connected to the panel.
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Basically, when the fire alarm panel detects an open wire in the Class A Loop, it
automatically switches to using two separate un-supervised Class B loops. The first one is the
original Class A loop, and second one back-feeds on the separate pair of wires to make the
second Class B loop. Most of the devices on the original Class A loop will be on either the
first or the second Class B loop

Separation on Class A Wiring Routes

True Class A wiring schemes make sure to protect the redundant return path by routing it
through the building on a separate route.The concern here is that whatever breaks a wire in
the first part of the loop might break all the wires in the same bundle. An example: A forklift
tears through all the wires in a bundle at once. If both feed and return wiring routes use the
same wire bundle, and the whole bundle of wires is broken, and all the devices beyond the
break will not communicate with the panel.

In that case, Class A wiring will not be any better than Class B. The NFPA Code does allow
for some exceptions, but mostly the code says the outgoing wiring path and the incoming
wiring path should be separated by some distance.

Resetting Class A Troubles

Most fire alarm panels automatically restore trouble messages when the trouble is repaired.
However, because the Class A Loop isn't supervised the same way as Class B Loops, the fire
alarm panel can't detect corrections.With Class A faults, after correcting the open fault,
resetting the panel will clear the trouble message. Class A Loop wiring uses both a primary
wire path, and a redundant secondary wire path. When a wire breaks, by using both paths,
devices are still able to communicate with the fire panel.

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Class B Loops

In conventional Class B Loops, all devices are daisy-chained together. By watching a small
electrical current passing through the wires, the panel supervises them, and to limit this
supervising current, at the end of the daisy-chain is an end-of-line resistor. The panel
constantly watches for this current.

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If the supervising current stops flowing, the panel assumes a wire is broken (an open fault),
and displays a trouble. When a wire breaks in Class B, the devices closest to the panel will
still work, but because of the wire break, the devices further from the panel are cut off. Fire
alarm people are paranoid. They're afraid everything is working against them. They're in fear
that that if anything goes wrong, like a wire breaks or a connection comes loose, lives will be
lost, or property will be destroyed, or both.

Wiring, for example, is considered to be unreliable. Even when installed perfectly -- it's in
conduit and all connections are properly made -- wiring can be damaged by external forces:
a smoke detector is broken by a forklift, a mini-horn is disconnected in an apartment so the
resident doesn't have to listen to it, a connection is corroded by water leaking from the roof,
etc. This of course doesn't include poorly made connections, squirrels chewing on the wire
(I've seen that), other vendors removing the fire alarm wire by mistake, and anything else that
breaks the wire. Class A Loops can be used in fire alarm systems, but Class B Loops are the
most common for non-addressable fire alarm loops

CONCLUSION:

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