The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) could approve a national mass notification standard for the private sector at its safety conference in June.
The Chapter 12 standard (formerly known as Annex E) adds a category to the National Fire Alarm Code, which was last updated in 2007. It would be the first time guidelines have been put in place for an emergency communication system (ECS). The code would roll out for 2010.
The systems will be required to provide pre-recorded messages as well as real-time instructions to occupants of a building during an emergency, according to the most recent draft of Chapter 12.
Perhaps the most notable element of the new chapter requires emergency communications systems be integrated with fire alarm systems as the primary notification system on school and hospital campuses. Once the emergency is over, this combination ECS/fire alarm system could provide independent fire alarm notification.
“In new construction, the best way to comply with NFPA 72, Chapter 12 code appears to be an integrated ECS/fire alarm systems approach,” says Beth Welch, public relations manager at Honeywell Fire Systems. “When dealing with a retrofit application where a fire alarm system already exists, a separate ECS may be required.”
“Voice intelligibility” in messaging would also become a requirement, which could trigger additional fire-alarm inspections, Welch added.
The updated version of NFPA 72 is scheduled to come before the association’s membership at the technical session that is held in conjunction with the 2009 NFPA World Safety Conference and Exposition in Chicago.
The proposed code update was circulated to the public in mid-2008 for review and comment.
The NFPA’s Standards Council has been overseeing the update. The council created the Emergency Communication Systems (ECS) Committee to review and update documents on the risk analysis, design, application, installation and performance of emergency communication systems.
The addition of Chapter 12 would address in-building communication systems, as well as wide-area signaling. Wide-area signaling, which was introduced in the 2007 edition of NFPA 72, is the process of providing alerts or information to people in exterior open spaces, such as campuses, neighborhood streets, cities, towns or communities.
