Smoke Alarm User Manual

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Note: This document is based on the recommendations of BS5839 Part 1: 2002. It is intended only as a guide to the application of fire detection systems.
Reference must be made to relevant national and local standards.
Application Guide
2.2. MANUAL CALL POINTS
People can often still detect a fire long before automatic
fire detectors; hence manual call points are important
components of fire detection systems in occupied buildings
to ensure timely evacuation in the case of fire. All call points
should be approved to EN54-11, and should be of type A, that
is once the frangible element is broken or displaced the alarm
condition is automatic.
Manual call points should be mounted on all escape routes,
and at all exit points from the floors of a building and to
clear air. It should not be possible to leave the floor of a
building without passing a manual call point, nor should it
be necessary to deviate from any escape route in order to
operate a manual call point. Call points mounted at the exits
from a floor may be mounted within the accommodation or
on the stairwell. In multiple storey buildings where phased
evacuation is to be used call points should be mounted within
the accommodation to avoid activation of call points on lower
levels by people leaving the building.
In order to provide easy access, call points should be mounted
between 1.2 and 1.6m from the floor, and should be clearly
visible and identifiable. The maximum distance anyone
should have to travel in order to activate a manual call point
is 45m, unless the building is occupied by people having
limited mobility, or a rapid fire development is likely, in which
case the maximum travel distance should be reduced to 20m.
Call points should also be sited in close proximity to specific
hazards, for example kitchens or paint spray booths.
Figure 2.2.1. Manual Call Point Positioning
Canteen
Kitchen
Pantry
Office
Office
MAX DISTANCE 45M
1.2 to 1.6m