[Adopted as indicated in article histories]
[1]
Editor's Note: State law reference - Equipment,
G.L. 1956, 23-28.25-1 et seq.
[Adopted 10-4-1965 (Ch. 10, Art. IV, Div.
6, of the 1985 Code of Ordinances)]
The Chief of the Fire Department shall survey
each commercial and industrial establishment, mercantile, educational
and institutional occupancy, place of assembly, hotel, multifamily
house and trailer camp and shall specify suitable fire detecting devices
or extinguishing appliances which shall be provided in or near boiler
rooms, kitchens of restaurants, clubs and like establishments, storage
rooms involving considerable combustible material, rooms in which
hazardous manufacturing processes are involved, repair garages and
other places of a generally hazardous nature. Such devices or appliances
may consist of automatic fire alarm systems, automatic sprinkler or
water spray systems, standpipe and hose, fixed or portable fire extinguishers
of a type suitable for the probable class of fire, or suitable asbestos
blankets, manual or automatic covers or carbon dioxide or other special
fire extinguishing systems. In special hazardous processes or storage,
appliances of more than one type or special systems may be required.
Sprinkler systems, standpipe systems, fire alarm
systems and other fire protective or extinguishing systems or appliances
which have been installed in compliance with any permit or order,
or because of any law or ordinance shall be maintained in operative
condition at all times, and it shall be unlawful for any owner or
occupant to reduce the effectiveness of the protection so required;
except this shall not prohibit the owner or occupant from temporarily
reducing or discontinuing the protection where necessary to make tests,
repairs, alterations or additions. The Chief of the Fire Department
shall be notified before such tests, repairs, alterations or additions
are started unless the work is to be continuous until completion.
[Adopted 5-22-1984 (Ch. 10, Art. III, Div.
2, of the 1985 Code of Ordinances)]
Manual fire alarm stations shall be of a type
approved by the authority having jurisdiction.
Alarm horns shall be the combination light-horn
type. A minimum of 80 decibels shall be required throughout the property,
including the sleeping area of apartment houses, etc. Approved speaker
systems used for evacuation shall be at the same level for both speech
information and alarm evacuation. Both speech information and alarm
evacuation levels must be high enough to be heard above ambient room
noise throughout the building. Evacuation signal levels, in all occupancies,
shall meet the requirements of 72A, National Fire Protection Association,
as adopted in the Rhode Island State Fire Safety Code.
When placed in apartment houses, heat detectors
will be located outside of the bedroom in close proximity to the bedroom
entrance. Effective January 1, 1979, a heat detector in apartment
houses will always be installed in the kitchen. If the kitchen is
separated from the bedroom by a wall, an additional heat detector
shall be installed outside the bedroom area.
Local smoke detectors, when required by the
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, shall be
labeled local only and located outside of bedroom areas of apartment
houses. Exceptions will be made where the required placement would
be closer than 10 feet to a kitchen stove. The local authority, in
any event, will determine proper placement at the time of plan review
and approval.
A.
Any flow switches on sprinkler and standpipe systems
shall be installed in accordance with the local authority.
B.
A flow switch shall be installed in the main riser
so that any flow water in the system will activate this device. The
flow switch shall be on a separate zone and will be designated water
flow or sprinkler/standpipe.
C.
In addition to the flow switch on the sprinkler/standpipe
main, flow switches shall be installed on each zone. Any alarm originating
from a sprinkler head or a fire hose cabinet shall provide two indications
on the system annunciator: One to indicate "sprinkler/standpipe" and
one to indicate the zone. The flow switches shall alarm the zone where
the cabinet is located.
A.
Tamper switches shall be installed on all sprinkler/standpipe
shutoffs. The tamper switches on shutoffs connected to the main riser
shall be connected to the main riser zone and annunciated as a trouble
indication on that zone.
B.
The activation of any tamper switch shall annunciate
trouble on the affected zone and shall not disable the alarm circuit
in that zone.
Annunciator panels shall always be located at
or near the entrance to the building or property. In cases of multiple
building clusters, in addition to an annunciator panel at the entrance
of each building, there shall be a red strobe light, a Whelan Model
1200 or equal, so located as to be readily visible to responding fire
apparatus. Graphic annunciator panel is remote from the control panel;
it shall contain the functions of the control panel, including audible
and visual trouble signals, system reset and system silence (key switches).
Annunciation of alarm and trouble indications will be accomplished
with the use of separate zone wiring and not with the use of multiple
contact initiating devices. Annunciation shall be floors or locations
and not by a zone number only.
The master box shall be located next to the
annunciator and shall have a blank door. A pull station shall be located
within five feet of the master box for system deactivation.
The use of a generator for standby power is
acceptable with the addition of a separate rechargeable battery size
to run the entire system for one hour in the event the generator malfunction
or the loss of alternating current to the fire alarm. The loss of
alternating current power will be indicated at the annunciator panel.
The activation of any elevator capture device
will capture the designated elevator and return it to the first floor.
In the event that the first floor elevator lobby smoke detector is
in alarm, the elevator will return two floors above the first floor
or to a designated floor alternate determined by the local authority.
The specifications for the system should include
that any fire alarm equipment supplier shall have a facility so located
to offer maintenance and repair of the system within a reasonable
time. The supplier, or his designee, shall post a telephone number
on the master box that is manned and available on a 24 hours, seven
days a week basis. A telephone answering recorder is not acceptable.
In order to facilitate the requirements of the
code concerning the testing, the electrical contractor shall, during
the pretest, expose the wiring on two devices on each zone and circuit.
After testing the supervision of these devices, he shall leave the
wiring exposed until the completion of the acceptance test. This should
greatly reduce the time necessary to finish a complete required test
of the system supervision. The devices may be mounted after the final
test is complete.
Complete access to the building and/or property
shall be provided to the Fire Department. Keys to gain entrance to
all areas of the building and/or property shall be given to the Fire
Department and located in the master fire box. In lieu of this, it
is recommended that a "Knox" box for all keys be provided. All keys
for the fire alarm system shall be given to the Fire Department.
Any instructions provided to the Fire Department
shall be kept in a master fire alarm box. A point-to-point wiring
diagram showing all devices shall be left inside the control panel.
The Town, the Division of Fire Alarm or any
of its employees shall under no circumstances be liable for the failure
of any of the equipment to operate during the transmission of any
alarm to the fire alarm console.
