ULC Fire Monitoring

ULC fire monitoring is required as defined in the Alberta Building code and controlled by the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ), normally the local fire department. ULC sets the standards by which the system is installed and monitored. They also define the time frames and who is to be called when, on any of the signals sent to the signal receiving centre. In our case the signal receiving centre is Armstrong's National Monitoring and the installation/service company is Consolidated Monitoring Ltd. Consolidated also has several subcontractors that we use for service.

There are normally two main parts to ULC Fire Monitoring.

Fire Alarm Control Unit (FACU)

The FACU is connected to all of the buildings fire monitoring devices such as smoke detectors, pull stations, sprinkler sensors etc. It is normally installed and serviced by a certified fire technician or an electrical contractor.

Signal Transmitting Unit (STU)

The STU is a monitoring panel that connects to the FACU and sends the outputs of the FACU (Alarm, Trouble, Supervisory) to the central monitoring station. In addition it also sends its own trouble conditions to the central monitoring station. The STU must be installed and maintained by a ULC certified company which then issues a certificate for the building defining the type of system, the certified company and the signal receiving centre.

Signals and Responses

Responsible person - person(s) designated by the subscriber / owner. They should know who the party is that can service the FACU and its devices. They are responsible to make sure that any Trouble or Supervisory problems are resolved. They should also know which communication services are used and how to resolve outages.

Fire Alarm Signal - On a fire alarm signal the fire department is always the first to be called then a Responsible person is called.

Trouble Signal - This is a signal from the FACU that there is a problem with the fire system. Most common causes are: Power Failure, Low FACU battery, sensor or wiring to a sensor failure.

Supervisory Signal - This is a signal from the FACU normally associated with monitoring a sprinkler system. Common causes would be a sprinkler control value closed or low sprinkler pressure.

A/C failure - In a power fail the FACU will send a Trouble signal and the STU will send an A/C failure. If only one signal is received as each system should be on its own breaker check to see if the breaker associated has tripped. If it is determined that multiple properties are affected then notification may be delayed up to 12 hours.

Low Battery - Both the FACU and STU have batteries. The FACU sends a Trouble signal for this condition. If a low battery is reported then it comes from the STU and its the service company that needs to be called.

STU trouble signals - The most common trouble conditions are power fails and low batteries. As your service company we are responsible to arrive within 4 hours should it be required. NOTE: after hours rates will apply.

STU communication problems - The STU communicates with the signal receiving centre in one of 3 ways (phone line, internet or cell communicator). Note: The Responsible persons should know the service providers used for these transmissions so that they can initial repairs should that be required.

Two transmission paths are required for passive monitoring, when one is lost for more than 50 minutes the responsible person is informed so that they can initiate repairs. If the problem is not resolved then a NOT (No Test Signal) is generated by the signal receiving centre to say that method of transmission has not been received.

We do not recommend active monitoring (which uses only one method of transmission but transmits an ok every few seconds). Most internet services have short outages this could result in many calls to the Responsible person as no signals are received during an outage. For active cell the costs are much higher and should anything happen to this path other than a communication fail no signals would be received.

Resolving Communication loss signals:

•Phone line: normally very reliable, newer system often are on the internet and require that infrastructure to be working as well. Check that you can dialout on the phone line attached to the STU

•Cell: normally very reliable and is not affected by local equipment. For ongoing problems have the service company check the cell signal strength.

•Internet: has a wide range of issues both locally onsite ( modems, routers and power to these devices ) and in the providers transmission equipment. Check that the internet is working on site and check to see if any changes to the internet structure have occurred. If everything else is ok call the service company to check the connection at the STU

Response to Trouble and Supervisory FACU signals

A Responsible person must be called each time a signal is received as the fire system might not be able to properly detect or transmit a fire alarm. In addition if the signal has not restored, each 12hours the Responsible person will be contacted to determine when the problem will be fixed. NOTE: The central monitoring station may, with written authorization from the subscriber, suspend the notification of a non-restored trouble or supervisory signal between the hours of 2200 and 0800 (See notification form). For long term problems where service or parts are not immediately available (risk of no fire detection) - weekly written notification to the signal receiving centre are required to prevent further notifications. After 30 days if the problem has not been resolved the certificate may be suspended/cancelled until the system can be repaired. Most AHJ's require notification when the system has been suspended or cancelled.

Resolving Trouble signals: In many FACU panels the type of trouble is displayed. As many troubles are the result of power loss to the FACU checking to make sure the FACU has power should be one of the first steps (most all FACU's indicate loss of power visually in some manner)

Testing of the System

Before testing the Fire Alarm system please make sure to notify the monitoring station. A system can only be placed out of service for a maximum of 12 consecutive hours and must be placed out of service on the same day. Unless passcode authorization is setup, only the name of the person putting the system out of service is required. Please make sure to list the exact address and if only some signals (trouble/supervisory) are to be placed out of service.