As businesses grow, they often require more space. This may be to accommodate more staff, to increase warehouse or storage space, or to provide more facilities. It’s not always cost-effective to relocate, so adding an extension is sometimes the preferred choice for expansion.
Providing you have the space to do so, and the necessary permissions, most buildings can be extended to increase their capacity. However, there are many things to consider such as cost, return on investment, planning permission (if the extension is not found to be permitted development) and building regulations.
As with any business property, the extension will also need to be compliant with fire safety regulations, which means a suitable fire detection system must be in place.
Extending an Existing Fire Detection System
When adding to a business property, appropriate fire detection must be installed. This means that additional detectors, sounders, manual call points and I/O devices must all be connected to the existing fire panel.
What are the Challenges?
Extending a fire alarm system can be a costly exercise and may have a negative impact on the building and its operation:
Cost
Running cables from an extension to the existing part of the building can be extremely time consuming and costly.
Aesthetics
While cabling can be installed in the new part of the property during the early stages of the development, channelling cables back to a fire alarm control panel in the original part of the building may damage the property’s aesthetics. Chasing cables into walls causes damage to walls and ceilings, while wires clipped to the outside of the wall can be unsightly.
Disruption
In many cases, a building can be extended with little disruption. However, depending on where the fire alarm control panel is located, installing new cabling can have a negative impact on the operation of the building, and in some circumstances, the entire building may need to be closed off.
What is the Solution?
Wi-Fyre allows wireless fire alarm technology to connect seamlessly with existing hardwired fire alarm systems. This allows existing fire detection systems to be extended without the need for costly or time-consuming cable runs and with little disruption to the operation or aesthetics of the property.
At the core of Wi-Fyre is the Wi-Fyre transponder which connects to the existing fire alarm cabling via a compatible interface module. Each Wi-Fyre transponder can communicate with up to 30 field devices such as detectors, sounders, manual call points and input/output interfaces.
A Wi-Fyre Wireless survey must be conducted using the Wi-Fyre survey head to ensure that the signal between the device to be installed and the transponder is strong enough for the system to operate efficiently.
Wi-Fyre provides a cost-effective, easy-to-install, easy-to-commission, low-maintenance solution for extending existing fire detection systems and has six user-selectable modes for integration with a wide range of systems:
- Conventional
- Addressable (collective)
- ProFyre 2-Wire Addressable
- ProFyre Addressable
- Standalone
- Reflective
For more information about using Wi-Fyre to extend an existing fire detection system, or to learn about the other benefits of Wi-Fyre, please feel free to give us a call on +44 (0)1329 835024 or email [email protected] where we would be happy to answer any questions.
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