Johnson Controls opens interactive showroom and training facility in Ireland

Tyco, the security products division of Johnson Controls, has announced the opening of its new state-of-the-art interactive showroom and training facility in Ireland.

Located in the Ballymount area of Dublin, the new showroom facility provides the opportunity for system integrators and their end user clients to witness live demonstrations of the features and technology built into the latest generation of access control and video surveillance solutions supplied under the Tyco umbrella.

“In addition to in-depth demonstrations of specific products or software, we’re now also able to show how easy it is for end users to benefit from a totally integrated security solution via an interactive operational system,” said Colm O’Brien, Tyco’s access control and video surveillance business manager in Ireland.

“By way of an example, we’re able to demonstrate the full capabilities of Victor, our unified video management application, which synchronises video surveillance with access control, fire protection, BMS, drone detection and mitigation, radar, gate automation, intrusion and other systems into one powerful and intuitive interface.”

The new facility also has a fully-equipped training room with hands-on workstations to enable system integrators to learn how to offer their end user clients maximum value from a wide range of solutions, including American Dynamics’ Victor and VideoEdge video platforms, Exacq’s video management software, Illustra cameras, Software House’s CCure access control solution, CEM’s access control systems and, of course, Kantech’s access control platforms.

Advanced launches brochure focused on fire protection advice for historic sites

Advanced has launched a new guide to fire protection for historic and heritage sites, which present unique challenges for end users, specifiers and installers.

The brochure is designed to help key stakeholders understand some of the solutions available for the challenges they face. It addresses many common problems in ensuring adequate active fire protection, tackling the challenges of minimising aesthetic impact, quick and safe evacuation and eliminating unwanted alarms.

Advanced’s systems protect some of the most famous, valuable and most visited sites, among them Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Durham Cathedral, The Magna Carta at Lincoln Castle, Iona Abbey, the Natural History Museum in central London and the Trinity Episcopal Church that’s located in Rhode Island.

Aston Bowles, head of marketing at Advanced, said: “Historic structures present unique challenges for the fire systems industry, but innovation is delivering significant choice and performance gains for end users, specifiers and responsible people in the sector. The new brochure aims to offer insight into the sector and the solutions that can be used.”

Advanced’s products include complete fire detection systems, multi-protocol fire panels, extinguishing control, fire paging and false alarm management systems.

*To request a copy of the Historic Sites Brochure send an e-mail to: marketing@advancedco.com

C-TEC to host live CPD-certified webinar entitled ‘Hush Those False Alarms’

With fire protection in flats, apartments and HMOs making the news for all the wrong reasons, C-TEC’s ‘Hush Those False Alarms’ webinar goes live at 11.00 am on 22 November. The Continuing Professional Development (CPD)-certified session is a perfect opportunity to become clued up on the current solutions available for reducing false alarms in HMOs and other areas by using mixed, conventional and hush systems.

The webinar will also explore how C-TEC’s BS 5839-6 Hush Button fire alarm solution is assisting landlords and building managers in better protecting their properties, while at the same time ensuring compliance with all of the relevant regulations and standards.

Andy Green, C-TEC’s marketing manager and one of the webinar’s hosts, informed Risk UK: “This CPD-certified event is an absolute ‘must’ for anyone who would like to know more about reducing false alarms and enhancing fire detection in houses of multiple occupation. We’ll also be hosting a live 20-minute Q&A at the end of the session.”

*To register access this link: http://www.workcast.com/register?cpak=5778363449402747&referrer=WCTEC

Fire 360° service from Bull Products begins with free site survey

Bull Products has just launched its Fire 360° service for construction companies. Fire 360° is a 12-step plan designed to provide companies with an effective and comprehensive fire strategy.

From an initial enquiry to Bull Products, a BAFE-certified advisor will arrange to attend a given site within 48 hours, accurately assess requirements and provide expert advice on fire safety strategy. Site plans are fully assessed by the engineer and clearly marked, duly outlining what fire protection is required and where it should be located, saving valuable time and ensuring that the site is compliant.

Following on from the site visit, Bull Products returns quotations within one hour and subsequent orders are acknowledged within an hour of receipt.

Ensuring compliance

Once commissioned for a specific project, Bull Products ensures that all of its products are fully serviced and/or programmed to ensure compliance as soon as the equipment arrives on site. Configuration of alarms can take place before systems are sent out or on site if there’s an addition to an existing system.

To ensure peace of mind, all fire equipment supplied meets all relevant standards with full certification of the alarm systems. Portable fire appliances are installed and serviced in accordance with the relevant British Standard.

Once the fire equipment is fully installed and commissioned, Bull Products is able to train site personnel in the use of fire extinguishers and on alarm system familiarisation so that it can be used to its full potential and eliminate any user error and false alarms.

Nationwide technical support

To back up its professional expertise with fire equipment, Bull Products provides nationwide technical support for all areas of construction from 6.00 am to 5.00 pm every day in order to assist with any site queries.

On becoming a Bull Products customer, an automatic servicing schedule will be in place designed to remind the client when their equipment is due for servicing to ensure compliance throughout the project.

Another bonus of the Fire 360° plan is that Bull Products can take care of asset management. Under this part of the service, once the fire protection equipment has been finished with on a project, Bull Products is able to arrange equipment collection from site for free of charge, subsequently stock holding it until there’s a need for re-use on a future project. This extremely useful service saves end user companies having to find space to store the fire equipment themselves, while equipment re-use clearly saves on the purchase of new solutions.

Bull Products also cleans and services all fire protection equipment before it’s sent to the next project in order to ensure that it remains compliant.

*Further information on the Fire 360° service is available from Bull Products on the website: www.bullproducts.co.uk

Newest Euralarm member WAGNER Group brings strong innovation expertise in fire protection

Following a unanimous decision of the Board, Euralarm has now formally welcomed its newest member the WAGNER Group. The company will join the Fire Section of Euralarm, which activities cover fire detection, notification, evacuation, extinguishing controls and smoke and heat ventilation.

WAGNER will now benefit from Euralarm’s services in terms of representation among European institutions and standardisation organisations and the monitoring of relevant legislative and standardisation issues, and will have access to its extended network of national associations and major companies in the electronic fire safety and security sector.

WAGNER Group is a leading provider of integrated fire protection. Its products are often considered a benchmark in the sector. The company is an experienced provider of comprehensive and individual services ranging from consulting and solution development to system installation and support.

Over the years, WAGNER’s innovations have given the market significant impetus. As a logical consequence, the German-based company also brings its expertise and knowhow into important standards committees including DIN, CEN and ISO.

WAGNER is also actively involved in drafting national and international guidelines with, for example, VdS and the BSI.

Headquartered in Langenhagen near Hannover in Germany, WAGNER’s worldwide presence extends beyond Europe to China, Dubai, Singapore and the United States.

Enhanced competitiveness and harmonisation

WAGNER will be represented in the Euralarm Fire Section by Dr Ing Oliver Linden, the company’s product manager. Following the completion of a doctorate in safety engineering and fire and explosion protection, Dr Ing Linden spent several years working as a researcher, with a special focus on the development and testing of multi-criteria fire detectors before moving into product management.

His responsibilities in terms of the company’s product portfolio and special tasks have increased steadily across a 12-year career with the business.

“WAGNER acknowledges Euralarm’s important role as the European fire and security industry’s representative and balancing partner to standardisation and testing bodies,” said Dr Ing Linden. “Having participated in its work for many years, WAGNER decided to permanently engage with Euralarm’s activities specifically in relation to matters of fire safety, contributing towards reduced trade barriers as well as enhanced competitiveness and harmonisation of the European market. As WAGNER’s representative, I would like to thank Euralarm very much for the warm welcome.”

Euralarm president Enzo Peduzzi commented: “We’re happy to now count WAGNER among our members. Euralarm is now even more representative of the electronic fire safety and security sector.”

Euralarm represents the electronic fire and security industry, providing leadership and expertise for industry, the market, policy-makers and standards bodies. Its members make society safer and more secure through systems and services for fire detection, intrusion detection, access control, video monitoring, alarm transmission and Alarm Receiving Centres.

Founded in 1970, Euralarm represents over 5,000 companies within the fire safety and security industry. Euralarm members are national associations and individual companies from across Europe.

Rossiyskie Zheleznye Dorogi employs Xtralis’ VESDA-E VLQ to protect vital compact Data Rooms

Russian Railways (Rossiyskie Zheleznye Dorogi, or RZhD) owns and operates Russia’s entire rail system, annually carrying over one billion passengers. With more than 85,000 km of track to maintain and 1.2 billion tonnes of freight shipped each year, RZhD operates the third largest rail network in the world.

RZhD has 12 main lines, many of which provide direct connections to the European and Asian national railway systems including Finland, France, Germany, Poland, China, Mongolia and North Korea.

To support its logistically complex and economically vital operation, RZhD maintains a large number of Data Rooms which vary in size but have one thing in common: the key-critical computing and switching equipment contained in each must be protected from smoke and fire.

As a result, RZhD selected VESDA by Xtralis for this important task.

Xtralis solutions currently protect approximately 50% of new metro and subway constructions worldwide. Indeed, RZhD already employs various VESDA models, from the VFT-15 addressable aspirating smoke detector to Laser Compact (VLC), Laser Focus (VLF), Laser Plus (VLP) and Laser Scanner (VLS).

These solutions protect seven larger Data Rooms on key railway lines, including Privolzhsk, Gorky, South Ural, West Siberian, Oktyabrskaya Railways, Far Eastern Railways and North-Caucasus Railways.

With a communications network modernisation, RZhD began deploying compact Data Rooms across its network. Until recently, these locations, with areas up to 12 m², featured conventional detection. Upon the introduction of VESDA-E VLQ, RZhD immediately began a program to equip these Data Rooms with VESDA-E VLQ units.

RZhD recognised that, even if small in scale, fires within spaces housing critical infrastructure can result in substantial transportation interruptions. Common causes of fire in these environments include overheating electrical components, cables, power supplies and faulty lighting or mechanical systems.

Xtralis created VESDA-E VLQ specifically to deliver cost-effective very early warning smoke detection for compact areas like Data Rooms. A single VLQ unit can replace as many as four standard spot-type smoke detectors, protecting areas up to 100 m².

As the RZhD network continues to grow, Xtralis expects to continue to equip the vital rail transport system with VESDA-E VLQ detection solutions.

Advanced consolidates transport sector credentials by joining Rail Industry Fire Association

Global fire systems business Advanced has recently become a member of the Rail Industry Fire Association (RIFA), reinforcing the company’s credentials in the transport sector.

“We have a long track record in the railway and urban transport industry,” commented Advanced’s marketing and comunications manager Aston Bowles. “Our EN54 and UL864 fire alarm panels and systems are installed in some of the UK’s and the world’s leading facilities, including Waterloo and Kings Cross stations in London, the Crossrail development, many stations across the London Underground, the Istanbul Metro and the Tyne and Wear Metro.”

Bowles continued: “Joining the RIFA is a natural step for Advanced and helps us consolidate our position in an industry with extremely rigorous fire safety standards. It will also allow us to learn more about a fast-growing and rapidly evolving sector.”

Kings Cross Station in London

Advanced is constantly developing new products to meet the needs of the transport and wider fire protection industry. The company’s recently-launched TouchControl touchscreen fire system repeater and remote control terminal is a 10” HD touchscreen with dynamic graphics and zone plans called Active Maps.

Active Maps allow any image from a technical drawing, zone plan, photograph or even a Google Maps image to be used to display fire information for the host organisation.

Multiple views allow end users to interrogate the status of zones in a site from different angles or scales, while Map App software makes it simple and easy to add map images and associate them with a given zone.

The RIFA is a global association established to share information, experience and Best Practice in the management of fire safety throughout the railway industry. Fire prevention within railways involves special consideration that requires understanding of the operational railway and its users. Whether it’s a heavy haul goods operation, high speed rail, metro or light rail, there are impacts from fire that have to be considered.

The RIFA is an independent and authoritative source of fire safety information for rail industry Best Practice.

BRE Global unveils new opportunities for fire protection system manufacturers to CE mark products

BRE Global has become one of the first organisations in Europe to be able to provide manufacturers of construction products with complete CE marking services for a range of solutions not covered by harmonised European Standards under the Construction Products Regulation (CPR).

The scope for manufacturers to CE mark their construction products has been significantly expanded by the European Commission’s recent decision to allow Notified Bodies to be notified for European Technical Approval Guidelines (to be used as European Assessment Documents, or EADs).

Prior to this, Notified Bodies could only issue CE Certificates against harmonised European Standards, enabling CE marking of a relatively limited range of generally well-established products.

This means that the number and range of building products and systems for which BRE Global can provide CE marking services has been considerably expanded. These include fire stopping, fire sealing and fire protection products.

BRE Global is one of the first organisations in Europe to be able to provide manufacturers of construction products with complete CE marking services for a range of products that are not covered by harmonised European Standards under the Construction Products Regulation

Once it has been established that all requirements of the ETAG (used as an EAD) have been met, the Notified Body can provide a CE Certificate, and the manufacturer can then issue a Declaration of Performance.

BRE Global’s quality manager Mike Pratt noted: “BRE Global was able to test against ETAGs as a Technical Assessment Body and issue certificates against ETAGs as a Notified Body under the CPD for many years. Now that we can use ETAGs as EADs, we can provide the same service under the CPR. This is a great benefit to our customers.”

Peace of mind technology now free for all Apollo fire detection systems

Apollo Fire Detectors has upgraded its Loop Calculator software, in turn allowing end users access to free calculation software that permits them to assess the viability of a proposed fire detection system design.

Establishing the viability of a fire detection system is often carried out using difficult calculations and estimations which can lead to system faults and failures, usually when panels and cables are overloaded as a result of calculation errors.

The new Loop Calculator V2.21 assesses the design feasibility of an XP95 or Discovery fire detection system, completing calculations quickly and accurately, and is ideal for use by design engineers and panel partners.

By producing a pass/fail result, the Loop Calculator alerts the designer to potential issues within a system. The results can be used in CIE battery calculations.

Apollo’s Loop Calculator in action

Andy Haynes, senior validation and support engineer at Apollo Fire Detectors, said: “We’re delighted to provide Loop Calculator software free to all of our customers via our website. The Loop Calculator is a useful tool, providing peace of mind that a system is viable. By preventing accidental overloading, and therefore producing a more reliable fire detection system, we hope to give fire engineers and customers even more confidence in the capabilities of all Apollo products.”

The Loop Calculator software for Apollo-based systems is available for use on all Windows-based computers and laptops. The upgraded version contains all of the information required and eliminates the need for extra download ‘patches’.

For further information visit: http://www.apollo-fire.co.uk/loopcalc