local village hall fire alarm

Robertbaker63 · Jun 28, 2013

ive been asked by the people who look after the village hall in my village if it needs a fire alarm?

i would of presumed so as its hired to the public but does it need to be a 24v system with a panel wired in fp200 or can it be an aico 240v interlinked mains system

the village only has 70 houses in a rural area so its not a big village hall, wooden construction, one large room thats licensed for 100 people, a kitchen and toilets either side of an entrance corridor and finally a store room at the back where table tennis tables and childrens toys are kept

they have also asked me to come up with a quieter replacement for the 6 fan heaters they have mounted at about 2m high around the building, they are happy with how they work and the heat given off but the noise does interrupt some of the village events, i wouldn't of imagined they'd wanna spend alot of money, i always charge them £15 an hour for remedial works normally as the only income is raised from quiz nights and craft fairs

sparkx · Jun 28, 2013

what does the fire risk assessment say?

MDJ · Jun 28, 2013

I would get the local fire officer out and let him take the responsibility, however I would also suspect being a village hall money will be a major factor?

Robertbaker63 · Jun 28, 2013

i wouldn't of thought the'd have one. its only a couple of pensioners running it who live next door, the'd never heard of pat testing or an eicr till i mentioned it to them at a village meeting

i guess i ought to push them in the direction of getting a fire risk assesment done

Darkwood · Jun 28, 2013

Sounds to me like an episode of The Vicar Of Dibley.... see what Trigger says?

tazz · Jun 28, 2013

If no risk assessment is being undertaken, at least get the local fire officer to visit....Suggest in situations like these, and they come along quiet often, design your system to L1 to cover youself. There can then be no aguements that a building open to the public has not been fully covered. NB Never install 240 mains smokes in a public building

Tim · Jul 1, 2013

tazz said:
If no risk assessment is being undertaken, at least get the local fire officer to visit....Suggest in situations like these, and they come along quiet often, design your system to L1 to cover youself. There can then be no aguements that a building open to the public has not been fully covered. NB Never install 240 mains smokes in a public building

Sorry for the quick hijack, but why not install 230v smokes. Im not to clued up on the fire alarm regs, so just curious as to the reasoning.

Cheers,
Tim

tazz · Jul 2, 2013

240v smoke alarms are for domestic used, and are manufacture as such meeting Part 6 regulations. Public and commercial premises must have a fire alarm whichs meet Part 1, and as of June 2013 all equipment intstalled must meet EN54 manufacturing grades part 2 & 4

Powell · Sep 3, 2015

Tim said:
Sorry for the quick hijack, but why not install 230v smokes. Im not to clued up on the fire alarm regs, so just curious as to the reasoning.

Cheers,
Tim

Tim
You also need to consider DDA rules as well and need to ensure there are strobes throughout in public areas and toilets so hard of hearing are aware it has been activated. Any alarms must be interlinked to activate all of them and also some village halls have a 3/4 meter high ceilings so if there elderly who is going to climb up to replace the back up battery every year or test operation every week as your going to need a long pole to pust that test button.
I have worked in such a hall and even with a hard wired proper alarm system it was always going off when some silly DJ decided to use his smoke machine despite us asking them not to

Austin