NOTTINGHAM INDEPENDENT LIVING SCHEMES RECEIVE MAXIMUM FIRE PROTECTION WITH AICO

Two independent living schemes have benefited from Aico’s latest Smoke Alarm technology as part of Nottingham City Homes’ ‘Grander Designs’ advanced refurbishment programme.

An arm’s length management organisation (ALMO) of Nottingham City Council, Nottingham City Homes (NCH) manages around 27,000 homes, including a range of independent living communities across the city.  The Grander Designs programme has been implemented to improve and modernise the communal areas of these schemes.

In the latest round of Grander Designs refurbishment, Garfield Court, a 32 flat corridor scheme in Radford, and Kersall Court, a similar scheme with 33 flats, have been fitted with Aico mains powered Multi-Sensors.  The Multi-Sensors contain two sensor types, optical and heat, to constantly monitor smoke and heat levels, sending and receiving information via its intelligent detection software, for fast response and reduced false alarms.

These alarms, which form a BS5839 Part 6 fire system, have been cleverly connected to a nurse call system and the BS5839 Part 1 fire system in the communal areas to maximise safety.  This has been achieved through the use of Aico’s unique Ei414 Fire/CO Alarm Interface which has been specifically designed to interconnect Aico alarms to third party life-safety devices.  When an alarm in a dwelling triggers, the nurse call system is immediately alerted but a two minute delay has been set before the signal is actioned by the Part 1 fire alarm system.  This gives on site staff enough time to check the situation with the tenant and get them to press the silence button on the Aico Ei450 Alarm Control Switch fitted in their flat, thus stopping the Part 1 fire alarm system from activating.

This is the first time NCH has combined Part 1 and Part 6 installations using the Ei414, as John Carr, Senior Electrical Technical Officer at NCH comments: “This product allowed integration of both systems in a manner that suited the building structure and provided appropriate functionality.

“We chose the Ei2110e and Ei160e alarms with RadioLINK+ wireless interconnection modules based on advice from Aico’s Paul Cartwright, Swift Fire & Security our partner contractor and discussions with our internal Fire Safety Officer” says John.  “This combination provided the functionality we required at an appropriate cost to NCH.  Aico and Paul in particular have provided an excellent service to NCH. We have visited Aico’s training centre [the Centre of Excellence in Oswestry, Shropshire] and found it a great resource and Aico’s continuing support has been invaluable.”