‘WLS sent us a truly great professional today to make a small change to our fire alarm system and to carry out maintenance. He was a breath of fresh air!’ – Annie Fowler
Fire alarms save lives.
An effective fire alarm system is one of the greatest forms of protection against destruction caused by fire; an early fire warning saves lives and protects your building from serious damage.
In reverse, a faulty fire alarm puts lives at risk and jeopardises the safety of your building.
This blog highlights the importance of fire alarm maintenance, taking you through faults to look out for, when to check your system and how WLS can help.
Common fire alarm faults
There are a number of potential faults that can occur with your fire alarm system:
- Device failures: these can occur from dust exposure, or other forms of contamination such as cleaning spray, or age.
- Earth faults: when exposed wire touches grounded metal. Most earth faults occur when the conductor insulation is damaged (i.e. from being pulled, exposed to water or pinched during installation). These faults can be the most challenging to resolve and require expert investigation.
- Circuit problems: broken or disconnected wires.
- Battery faults: batteries need replacing periodically due to age or other forms of damage.
Regular fire alarm maintenance is needed to detect faults and keep your system in prime working condition. Below we share our suggested fire alarm maintenance schedule.
Fire alarm maintenance schedule
- Weekly Testing: Manual call points need to be weekly tested to check alarm sounders are working. This should be recorded in a log book.
- Twice a year (or four times a year for larger properties): a qualified engineer should check your fire alarm system.
- Batteries should be replaced in accordance with manufacturer recommendations.
- Every 10 years: It is recommended to upgrade your fire alarm system for continued reliability.
WLS repairs and maintenance service
WLS has over 40 years of experience fitting and maintaining fire alarms.
We can install, program and maintain all your fire security and protection equipment, including installation of wireless fire alarm systems, VESDA systems, intercom & voice alarm systems. We can integrate them together with a central fire control panel or in combination within environments such as Nurse Call systems. We are BAFE and NSI Gold approved, and offer an exclusive Redcare connection.
We’re competitively priced with a unique call out guarantee: we fix 90% of problems first time; if we can’t, we’ll propose a solution and deduct the call out charge from the cost; and if we can’t propose a solution, we’ll refund the call out charge.
Find out more from our customer services team or on our website.
Case study: New Covent Garden Market
We’re proud to manage the entire fire maintenance of the UK’s largest wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market: New Covent Garden Market.
Read the full scopes of our work:
- Gent Fire Alarm systems tested weekly by our team, ensuring the system is effectively detecting any threats. With a site so large and frequented by so many, any faults need to be identified before they cause a major issue.
- We utilise Gent Panels to maintain the fire alarm systems across the entire site. These allow our engineers to identify exactly where an issue is should testing reveal a fault – the most comprehensive panel on the market, Gent is a high-quality, sophisticated control panel for any site.
- All sites are legally required to provide a ‘safe’ refuge area for disabled people who are unable to evacuate using the dedicated escape routes. Disabled Refuge units are two-way communication systems, and if not regularly tested, a major issue may not be revealed which could have serious consequences.
- Fire interfaces connect up the fire detection system with fire response equipment. This may include sprinklers, gas suppression systems and AOV’s. Our engineers have linked these systems and regular testing ensures all is acting as it should be, ready to jump into gear should a fire be identified.
- If a fault is found with the panels, our engineers are equipped to replace and repair the system as required. When an issue is found, it’s important it’s resolved as quickly as possible. Having a dedicated fire support company can ensure you are not waiting around for a fix.
- Fire alarm remedials such as replacement heads, call points and interfaces are also included in the maintenance of the market. Ultimately, this ensures the system is functioning correctly, but it also improves the overall life span of the site’s fire alarm system too.
View the case study.
Are you looking for a fire alarm maintenance service? We’d love to hear from you: 020 8676 4300.
