| Published by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
Get up-to-speed on the new 2007 NFPA 72 with the National Fire Alarm Code Handbook!
When you have questions about today's fire alarm system requirements, the 2007 National Fire Alarm Code Handbook has the answers! Significant new and revised provisions concerning such important topics as Mass Notification Systems, smoke detection in joist and beam ceiling applications, video image smoke and flame detection, multi-sensor and multi-criteria detectors, exit marking audible notification appliances, synchronization of visible notification appliances and smoke alarms with voice offer enormous potential for improving fire protection and life safety. The National Fire Alarm Code Handbook is your key to doing jobs right the first time.
Achieve job and compliance success with proven solutions!
From cover to cover, NFPA's exclusive roadmap to the Code is loaded with the extra facts you need to keep projects on time and up-to-code:
- The complete text of the 2007 NFPA 72.
- Authoritative commentary from industry authorities such as Bob Schifiliti PE; Jeff Moore PE; Daniel Gottuk PhD PE; and Thomas Hammerberg SET CFPS.
- Real-world examples of how to apply fire alarm requirements in specific situations.
- A wealth of tables and valuable two-color graphics that help you apply code rules correctly.
- New supplements about timely subjects that impact your work, including current research and its effect on the code, and fire alarm system (enabling) requirements from the Life Safety Code.
Back up your work with the best advice!
Put instant answers at your command and maximize fire protection with the 2007 National Fire Alarm Code Handbook.
A Guide to Using the National Fire Alarm Code Handbook
- This fifth edition of the National Fire Alarm Code Handbook contains the complete text of the 2007 edition of NFPA 72, National Fire Alarm Code.
- The 2007 National Fire Alarm Code Handbook includes the mandatory text (Chapters 1 through 11)
of NFPA 72 and its accompanying nonmandatory annex material (Annex A through H). To distinguish the Code text from the commentary text, NFPA 72 and annexes are printed in black ink.
- An asterisk (*) following the number or letter designating a paragraph indicates that explanatory material on the paragraph can be found in Annex A. For readers' convenience, this nonmandatory annex material has been placed within the body of NFPA 72 Code text in this handbook. Annex A explanatory material is printed in black and shares the same number or letter designation as the NFPA 72 paragraph, preceded by the letter "A."
- Figures and tables that are part of the mandatory provisions of NFPA 72 appear in the Code text, as do Annex A figures. These figures are printed in black and are numbered in accordance with the paragraphs in which they are referenced.
- The commentary text in this handbook is written to assist users in understanding and applying the provisions of NFPA 72. The commentary explains the reasoning behind the Code's requirements and provides numerous examples, tables, photographs and illustrations. The commentary text is printed in red type to distinguish it from the text of NFPA 72. Please note that the commentary is not part of NFPA 72 and therefore is not enforceable.
- Commentary art is set within red lines and labeled "Exhibit." The caption is printed in red ink. The commentary exhibits, including both drawings and photographs, provide detailed views of NFPA 72 concepts and are numbered sequentially throughout each chapter.
Excerpt from the Preface
The 2007 edition of NFPA 72, National Fire Alarm Code, represents the culmination of over a century of signaling standards and includes some of the most significant changes made in the Code in many years. The first signaling standard, NFPA 71-D, General Rules for the Installation of Wiring and Apparatus for Automatic Fire Alarms, Hatch Closers, Sprinkler Alarms, and Other Automatic Alarm Systems and Their Auxiliaries, was written in 1899. That document was only fifteen pages in length, including the committee report! We are certain the original framers of that document would be astonished to see what their work looks like today.
Fire alarm signaling has come a long way since NFPA published that first signaling standard over one hundred years ago. Many technologies related to fire alarm systems have evolved, while others have changed little since the middle part of the nineteenth century. For example, conventional fixed-temperature heat detectors and McCulloh loops have not changed significantly since they were invented in the late 1800s. Many technologies emerged in just the past thirty or forty years. More recent technologies, such as electronic addressable analog smoke detectors and analog heat detectors, continue to develop and improve. Additionally, the computer age has ushered in an era of major changes in fire alarm system control units. Software-driven system designs have resulted in fire alarm systems that are more flexible, richer in features, and easier to test and maintain.
As computer systems are becoming more sophisticated, fire alarm system designers are integrating these systems more with other building systems such as HVAC systems, security and access control systems, energy management systems, and mass notification systems. Requirements have been incorporated in the Code in an effort to keep pace with this ongoing evolution in integrated system designs and to preserve the integrity, reliability, and performance that is essential for fire alarm systems. Integration of these systems requires technicians from both the fire alarm and non-fire alarm systems fields to possess a more detailed and functional knowledge of these Code requirements. Systems integration also requires a more complete understanding of the application and operation of the various building systems technologies and how they interact with fire alarm systems. Education will
continue to play a critical role in the understanding and application of fire alarm systems and their integration with other building systems. Supplement 3, Integrating Building Systems for Greater Operational Efficiency, at the end of this handbook provides more depth on the emerging field of integrated systems.
This edition of the National Fire Alarm Code has retained the requirements of the 2002 edition for performance-based designs as they continue to play a more prominent part within the building process. The acceptance of performance-based designs on an equal footing with traditional prescriptive designs establishes an environment and incentive to perform much needed research. The fire alarm industry has and will continue to research and develop a better understanding of the metrics needed to model fire scenarios and predict detection system responses to those scenarios. More and more commonly, fire protection needs are served more effectively and precisely by performance-based approaches than by those based on the more traditional prescriptive rules. Performance-based approaches are not limited to fire detection and are becoming more widely used in the areas of audible and visible signaling.
This continued growth has been reflected within the Code both in terms of new requirements and in terms of information provided in the annexes and supplements in this handbook.
The 2007 edition of NFPA 72 includes some of the most significant changes made in the National Fire Alarm Code in recent times. For the first time in its history, the Code allows another alarm signal to take precedence over a fire alarm signal. Alarm signals from mass notification systems, used for everything from natural disasters to terrorist attacks, are permitted to take priority over fire alarm signals. In fact, a whole new annex has been added to the Code to provide guidance for the installation and design of these systems. In addition, a number of provisions have also been made in the mandatory part of the Code to coordinate the integration of fire alarm systems and mass notification systems. Mass notification systems will likely play an even greater role in shaping the Code in future editions.
The 2007 edition of the Code has also benefited in significant ways from recent research and technological developments. New research on performance metrics for heat detectors has resulted in a new requirement for manufacturers to document their heat detector response time index (RTI) by July 1, 2008. This information will allow fire protection engineers to more precisely predict heat detector response in performance-based designs. New research has been responsible for new prescriptive requirements to address troublesome joist and beam ceiling applications for smoke detection. These include requirements to specifically address "waffle" ceilings, corridors, and small rooms. Requirements have been introduced to address video image smoke and flame detection systems. These emerging technologies use video cameras and proprietary recognition software programs for fire detection and hold promise for installations where video cameras are also used for surveillance or other purposes. The use of multiple sensors for fire detection is becoming more common. The Code now defines three terms for these detectors: combination, multi-sensor, and multi-criteria detectors. In addition, new requirements have been added to the Code to better address performance, installation, and testing for these detectors. New research has also resulted in revised guidance for the installation of duct smoke detectors.
Contents
Part One - NFPA 72, National Fire Alarm Code, 2007 Edition, with Commentary. 1: Administration. 2: Referenced Publications. 3: Definitions. 4: Fundamentals of Fire Alarm Systems. 5: Initiating Devices. 6: Protected Premises Fire Alarm Systems. 7: Notification Appliances for Fire Alarm Systems. 8: Supervising Station Fire Alarm Systems. 9: Public Fire Alarm Reporting Systems. 10: Inspection, Testing and Maintenance. 11: Single- and Multiple-Station Alarms and Household Fire Alarm Systems. Annexes: A: Explanatory Material. B: Engineering Guide for Automatic Fire Detector Spacing. C: Wiring Diagrams and Guide for Testing Fire Alarm Circuits. D: Sample Ordinance Adopting NFPA 72. E: Mass Notification Systems. F: NEMA SB 30, Fire Service Annunciator and Interface. G: Informational References. H: Cross-Reference Table. Part Two - Supplements.
1: Performance-Based Design and Fire Alarm Systems. 2: Interfacing Fire Alarm Systems and Elevator Controls. 3: Integrating Building Systems for Greater Operational Efficiency. 4: Voice Intelligibility for Emergency Voice/Alarm Communications Systems. 5: Research and Its Impact on the Code. 6: Life Safety Code Enabling References. |
