What is the difference between domestic and commercial fire alarm systems?
Whether you’re working on a domestic or commercial property, fire safety should always be a top priority. However, it is important to invest in and install the correct type of system for each type of property, ensuring that every system provides adequate protection.
Domestic Fire Safety Systems
When it comes to these types of systems in domestic properties, most operate using two kinds of smoke detection methods, either photoelectric, also known as optical detection, or ionisation detection.
The difference between these two methods being that photoelectric detectors use beams of light to detect a disruption in light passing through the photocell caused by smoke. Whereas ionisation detectors, as the name suggests, are triggered interrupting the ionisation processes inside the alarm.
Of these two types of detectors, the photoelectric variety is more common, due to their rapid detection rates, especially when it comes to common domestic fuels such as fabrics and furnishings.
When these smoke detectors are triggered, a signal is sent to the circuit that will activate the sound and often flashing light associated with smoke and fire alarms, to alert occupants accordingly.
When it comes to alarms, you can find varieties that are either battery powered or connected to mains power, and you can even find models that interconnect with other alarms around the property, as well as CO alarms.
When it comes to testing, it is recommended that these alarms should be tested once a week, and more often than not these devices can be tested simply by pressing a button. For landlords, there are specific regulations that must be followed, to find out more about the 2022 changes to the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm Legislation, you can find out more here.
Commercial Fire Safety Systems
With bigger properties, comes bigger and more complex fire safety systems, and while the methods of detecting smoke and heat is similar to domestic models, the process of identifying and responding to the threat, as well as alerting occupants, has a few more elements to it.
The main difference between domestic and commercial fire safety systems is the fact that commercial systems must be connected to a central control panel, so that the system can cover a larger area effectively and efficiently.
Just like with domestic systems, smoke detectors are triggered, which leads to a sound and or light emission to warn occupants of danger. This signal then gets sent to the control panel, which is usually monitored around the clock, so that emergency services can be alerted.
There are two main types of alarm systems used in commercial properties, conventional systems, and addressable systems.
Both systems consist of interconnected detectors, but the difference between them is the precision in which the threat can be detected. Conventional systems work by dividing a premises in to zones, and when a detector in that zone is triggered, the central panel will be alerted. However, addressable systems send a signal to the central panel based on a specific detector, instead of a broader zone with multiple detectors.
For this reason, it is recommended that conventional systems are installed in smaller commercial spaces, while larger and higher risk areas, are best suited to addressable systems.
When it comes to legal obligations, a proper commercial fire safety system must be installed under the following circumstances:
· The property is either significant in size, close-pan or multi storey
· The property is used for activities that increase the risk of fire, such as cooking or handling flammable chemicals
· There are areas of the property in which a fire could break out unnoticed
· Flammable substances are stored onsite
A more obvious difference between commercial and domestic fire safety system, is the inclusion of what are known as activation points or call points. These are very commonplace around many commercial properties, and are used to give occupants a way to manually activate the alarm in an emergency, most commonly in the form of break glass points.
In terms of testing these commercial systems, while the testing and maintenance occurrences are less frequent, around 2-3 times a year, they are much more thorough and only conducted by professionals.
Choosing the correct fire safety system for a property is vital to ensuring the occupants of both domestic and commercial properties are kept safe at all times.
