Offices are incredibly diverse spaces, serving as headquarters for vast corporations, agile hubs for start-ups or professional suites for individual practitioners. Their layouts range from traditional cellular offices, offering privacy for focused work, to contemporary open-plan designs fostering collaboration, and even flexible co-working spaces catering to various businesses.
They facilitate everything from administrative tasks and creative design to client consultations and technological development. Despite their varied purposes and designs, a common thread is the concentration of people, valuable equipment and critical data.
This inherent density, coupled with the potential for electrical faults, combustible materials and human activity, necessitates a fundamental focus on robust fire safety provisions to protect occupants and assets.
Risks
Like most buildings and spaces, offices come with a variety of fire risks. Some of these include:
- Electrical Faults
- Overloaded sockets, faulty wiring, damaged cables or defective electrical appliances (e.g., computers, chargers, kettles) are a leading cause of office fires.
- Combustible Materials
- The presence of large quantities of paper, cardboard packaging, upholstered furniture, curtains and waste materials provides readily available fuel for a fire to spread rapidly.
- Human Error/Poor Housekeeping
- Unattended cooking in kitchenettes, improper disposal of smoking materials, blocking fire exits or leaving combustible waste near heat sources can all lead to fires.
- Heating and Cooling Equipment
- Portable heaters placed too close to combustible materials, poorly maintained air conditioning units or faulty fixed heating systems can overheat and ignite nearby items.
- Arson/Malicious Ignition
- While less common than accidental fires, deliberate acts of arson pose a significant and unpredictable risk, potentially causing rapid and widespread damage.
Challenges
Designing an effective and reliable fire detection system for offices in the UK presents a unique set of challenges. Some of these include:
- Diverse Building Layouts and Occupancy
- Modern offices vary greatly, from sprawling open-plan spaces to numerous smaller cellular offices, meeting rooms and mixed-use areas (e.g., canteens, server rooms). Each layout presents different fire spread characteristics and requires specific detector types and placement.
- Minimising False Alarms
- False alarms are a significant issue for fire and rescue services, leading to unnecessary call-outs and potential complacency among occupants. Designing systems that can differentiate genuine fires from benign events is crucial for system credibility and efficient emergency response.
- Modern office buildings often feature complex Building Management Systems (BMS) that control HVAC, access control and lifts. Effective fire detection systems need seamless integration with these.
- Aesthetics and Practicality of Installation
- In contemporary office design, fire detection equipment needs to be discreet and not detract from the building’s aesthetics. This can be challenging when trying to ensure optimal detector coverage, particularly in listed buildings or those with unique architectural features.
- Compliance with Evolving UK Regulations and Standards
- The fire detection solution must remain fully conversant with the latest requirements, including nuances for different building types and uses, and ensure the system meets or exceeds these standards for life safety and property protection.
Managed Protocol Addressable Fire Detection
“Managed protocol addressable fire detection” refers to a sophisticated fire alarm system where each device has a unique address on a communication loop. Unlike conventional systems that only indicate a general zone, addressable systems pinpoint the exact location of an alarm or fault, vastly improving response times and fault diagnosis.
SMS SenTRI
Building on the principles of managed protocol addressable detection, the SMS SenTRI system is a leading UK-based fire detection and alarm solution, manufactured by SMS (part of Honeywell Life Safety Systems).
Designed for a wide array of building types, from small offices to large, complex commercial sites, SenTRI offers a robust and scalable platform. Its core strength lies in its advanced analogue addressable technology, which provides highly accurate and rapid fire detection while actively working to minimise false alarms through intelligent sensing and adjustable sensitivity settings.
Approvals
The SMS SenTRI system is rigorously approved to meet stringent UK and European fire safety standards. It holds LPCB approval, signifying independent verification of its performance and manufacturing quality by BRE Global. Additionally, all SenTRI components are EN54 compliant, demonstrating they meet the essential European standards for fire detection and alarm system performance, crucial for reliable operation in UK offices.
Design Considerations
Control Panel Placement
For optimal results, the SMS SenTRI 2 control panel, as the heart of the fire detection system, should be strategically placed according to BS 5839-1 guidelines. This typically means locating it on the ground floor, near the main entrance or an entrance routinely used by the Fire and Rescue Service. It should be easily accessible, visible from outside the building where possible, and in an area with a low inherent fire risk.
Sensor Placement
Proper sensor placement is critical for the effectiveness of any fire detection system. With SMS SenTRI, a variety of addressable sensors (optical smoke, heat, multi-criteria) are strategically positioned throughout an office based on the specific fire risks of each area and adherence to BS 5839-1 guidelines. This ensures early and accurate detection, minimising false alarms.
A significant advantage of the SenTRI system is the option of a sounder base attachment. This innovative feature allows the fire alarm sounder to be integrated directly into the base of the detector, eliminating the need for separate sounder units and reducing installation costs and visual clutter, while providing immediate audible warnings at the point of detection.
MCP and Sounder Placement
SMS SenTRI Manual Call Points (MCPs) should be strategically located along all escape routes, ensuring easy access for occupants. Placement should be at a consistent, accessible height, typically around 1.4 metres and within a reasonable travel distance from any point.
SenTRI sounder devices should be installed where their audibility is uniform throughout an office, including all rooms and open areas, in line with BS 5839-1. This ensures all occupants receive clear, prompt notification.
Why Choose Eurofyre?
- Honeywell Fire Platinum Partner
- Eurofyre is a Honeywell Fire Platinum Partner. This means we can offer regional or industry-specific solution expertise that includes implementation and advanced customer support for models for Honeywell products along with the most competitive pricing.
- Complete System Supplier
- Eurofyre supplies all aspects of fire detection and its associated safety products, including SMS SenTRI Addressable Fire Detection, and can provide expert advice and consultation.
- Demonstration and Training
- We offer demonstrations and expert training on a range of systems, including SMS SenTRI Addressable Fire Detection, in our very own sophisticated training facility.
- After-Sales Support
- Eurofyre offers both on-site and telephone support to assist you in ensuring that your system is fully functional and operating at maximum efficiency. Our after-sales care and support are second to none.
For more information about SMS SenTRI Addressable Fire Detection, or to discuss any of the other products that Eurofyre have to offer, please feel free to get in touch either by phone on +44 (0) 1329 835 024, by email to [email protected] or via the online enquiry form situated on our contact page.
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