Fire Alarm Monitoring in Canada
National Building Code and the National Fire Code require fire protective signalling system to comply with Standard CAN-ULC S-561 for Fire Alarm Panel Monitoring as well as Stand Alone Sprinkler Alarm Monitoring.
Communication Technologies Accepted by ULC
The Fire Protective signaling system (Fire Alarm Monitoring Panel) communicates with the receiving equipment at Signal Receiving Center – SRC (also called Monitoring Station) in the form of:
- Passive communication (Dual path system with cellular GSM backup) or
- Active communication (Internet Protocol)
Earlier technologies used DVAC Bell circuits but because newer mobile technologies are cost effective and fault tolerant, ULC (Underwriter’s Laboratories, Canada) has accorded the approval of GSM monitoring panels.
Annual Inspection of Fire Protective Signaling Systems is a ULC Requirement
CANULC S-561 requires fire protective signaling system to be tested annually in addition to Fire Alarm Annual testing and inspection as per Standard CANULC S-536. We will provide inspection as a feature of the monitoring panel contract.
Issuance of ULC Certificate – The ONLY Proof of Proper Installation
Every properly installed Fire Protective Signaling System is issued a certificate by ULC to be displayed at the fire alarm monitoring panel. The certificate is the only proof that the building is being monitored in accordance with applicable standards. Customer can request installation with ULC certificate at a small extra fee.
Installation
Akal Fire installs Fire Protective Signaling Systems that connect to new or existing Fire Alarm Panels. The inter-connections of the two systems are provided in suitable terminal box as suggested in Appendix E4 of CANULC S-524-06. The system communicates alarms, trouble and supervisory signals to ULC Listed SRC (Signals Receiving Centre) through a GSM communication link. Once a fire alarm signal reaches the SRC, this information is relayed to the appropriate fire department by an operator. Customer will need to arrange electrical requirements themselves as the ULC certificate does not allow sharing of power connections and all interconnection wiring requires conduits, which may not exist be the case in old grandfathered installations already.
ULC Approval to Monitoring Station
