Search

Fire Alarm System – Building Society Sector

Search

The building society sector is a financial institution offering banking and financial services such as mortgage lending and savings accounts to customers across the UK and a number of other countries.

Nationwide Building Society Fire

On the 4th February 2014, an intense fire broke out on the ground floor of Nationwide building society in Sutton Coldfield due to an electrical fault. The fire began at 7:26am and a total of 25-30 firefighters and three appliances were called to the scene.

Fortunately, the fire occurred out of store hours and the building was empty during the incident. However, the fire caused a large amount of damage meaning systems were destroyed, cash was incinerated, customers were unable to access their accounts and employees were unable to work.

What are the Fire Risks Associated with the Building Society Sector?

There are many fire risks associated with the building society sector, including:

  • Electrical Equipment
    As building society’s hold a wide range of electrical equipment, cables can become loose and wiring and/or appliances may become faulty, this can set off sparks which can easily turn into an intense blaze.
  • Overloading Plug Sockets and Extension Leads
    Overloading plug sockets and extension leads may cause them to overheat and, therefore, heighten the risk of fire.
  • Office Areas
    Loose paper and boxes can easily ignite should they come into contact with an ignition source, such as a spark from a spilt drink or liquid on electrical equipment or if employees trip on, or cause damage to, loose electrical cables.

The Importance of a Reliable Fire System in the Building Society Sector

As building societies are open to the public, hold a large amount of money and are heavily relied on, it is essential a reliable fire alarm system is in place. This is essential to alert customers and staff and prevent the building from sustaining too much damage. Therefore, customer relationships are less likely to be destroyed as systems can be back up and running much sooner.

Cost Effective Solution

It is important to consider the system’s lifespan when selecting the most suitable fire alarm system for your business. Most fire detection systems have a lifespan of 10 years and, therefore, whilst the initial costs should be considered, the total cost of ownership should also be contemplated – it is important to not only consider the initial outlay, but also the servicing and maintenance costs for the lifespan of the system.

Open Protocol Solution

Eurofyre believe every client should have the option to select their own fire alarm maintainer or installer, whilst also receiving the highest level of support.

To support their decision to give clients as much freedom as possible, Eurofyre’s ProFyre range of fire detection systems all provide an ‘open’ protocol solution to ensure the owner has complete control over how the system is managed.

What are the Most Common Systems Used in the Building Society Sector?

There are many different fire detection systems available, each of which provide suitable fire detection for this specific application. Some of the most common fire detection systems used in the building society sector are:

ProFyre Analogue Addressable

The ProFyre range of analogue addressable detection systems offers a complete, high quality fire detection solution.

ProFyre A2 Panel

The ProFyre A2 analogue addressable fire alarm panel is the perfect solutions for smaller installations that require less than 256 devices, 8 zones and 2 loops and no cause & effect programming.

Profyre A4

On the other hand, the ProFyre A4 panel, is ideal for medium to large installations as it has the ability to hold a maximum of 8 loops and up to 250 addresses per loop.

ProFyre 2-Wire Addressable

ProFyre 2-Wire Addressable

The ProFyre T8 2-wire addressable fire alarm panel allows every device type to share and receive power through two wires. ProFyre T8 offers all the advantages of an addressable system, with the simplicity of a conventional system.

ProFyre Conventional

ProFyre Conventional

The ProFyre C8 conventional fire alarm panel is a compact, cost effective panel available in 1, 2, 4, 6 or 8 zone versions, making it the perfect choice for smaller properties where an easy to install automatic alarm solution and fire detection system is needed.

The ProFyre C24 panel is well suited to medium sized properties as it is a fully featured expandable panel available in 8, 16 and 24 zone versions.

As well as this, the ProFyre range of conventional fire detection is easy to install, commission, maintain and operate.


To find out more about any of Eurofyre’s fire detection systems feel free to contact Eurofyre on +44 (0)1329 835024 or by email to [email protected]. For all the latest fire protection news sign up to our newsletter using the form at the bottom of your screen or follow us online on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Google+ or sign up to our newsletter (in the footer below) to receive all the latest information from Eurofyre.