Two independent living schemes have benefited from Aico’s latest Smoke Alarm technology as part of Nottingham City Homes’ ‘Grander Designs’ advanced refurbishment programme.
An arm’s length management organisation (ALMO) of Nottingham City Council, Nottingham City Homes (NCH) manages around 27,000 homes, including independent living communities across the city.
The Grander Designs programme has been implemented to improve the communal areas of these schemes.
In a recent refurbishment, Garfield Court, a 32 flat corridor scheme in Radford, and Kersall Court, a similar scheme with 33 flats, have been fitted with Aico mains powered Multi-Sensors and Ei160e Series Alarms.
The Multi-Sensors contain two sensor types, optical and heat, to constantly monitor smoke and heat levels, sending and receiving information via intelligent detection software, for fast response and reduced false alarms.
These alarms, which form a BS5839 Part 6 fire system, have been connected to a nurse call system and the BS5839 Part 1 fire system in the communal areas to maximise safety.
This has been achieved with Aico’s unique Ei414 Fire/CO Alarm Interface which has been designed to interconnect Aico alarms to third party life-safety devices.
When an alarm in a dwelling triggers, the nurse call system is immediately alerted but a two minute delay has been set before the signal is actioned by the Part 1 fire alarm system.
This gives on site staff time to check the situation with the tenant and get them to press the silence button on the Aico Ei450 Alarm Control Switch fitted in their flat, thus stopping the Part 1 fire alarm system from activating.
This is the first time NCH has combined Part 1 and Part 6 installations using the Ei414. John Carr, Senior Electrical Technical Officer at NCH said: “This product allowed integration of both systems in a manner that suited the building structure and provided appropriate functionality.
“We chose the Ei2110e and Ei160e alarms with RadioLINK+ wireless interconnection modules based on advice from Aico’s Paul Cartwright, Swift Fire & Security our partner contractor and discussions with our internal Fire Safety Officer.
“This combination provided the functionality we required at an appropriate cost to NCH.”
