NFPA 72 Chapter 23.10.2 states: “Fire alarm systems used for partial evacuation and relocation shall be designed and installed so that attack by fire within a notification zone shall not impair control and operation of the notification appliances outside that notification zone.” Most, if not all hospitals use partial evacuation or relocation when a fire [Read More]
UL 2196 Approved CI/CIC Cables
Back in 2012, UL delisted all previously approved CI/CIC cables after it determined that the cables could not actually withstand attack by fire for 2 hours. It took a while for UL to reconfigure the standard, but in 2017 they re-issued the standard for manufacturers to use. The following cables are UL 2196 approved and [Read More]
Filed Under: 2 Hour Cabling, City of Chicago Articles, Code Requirements, Electrical Installation, Fire Alarm Design, Health Care, High Rise, Installation Requirements, Notification Requirements Tagged With: 2 hour cable options, 2 hour cable rating, 2 hour cable requirements, 2 hour circuit requirements, 2 hour protection, Chicago Building Code
When are 2 Hour Rated Circuit Protection for Fire Alarm Systems Required?
An electrical circuit’s survivability in harsh conditions is defined by the method of its installation. Some circuits that are relied upon to supply power to critical functions related to life safety need extra protection from fire, water and physical damage. Those of us in the fire alarm industry know circuit integrity (CI) cable enhances survivability [Read More]
Filed Under: 2 Hour Cabling, Code Requirements, Electrical Installation, Fire Alarm Design, Health Care, High Rise, Installation Requirements, Life Safety Articles, Notification Requirements, Voice Sysytems Tagged With: 2 hour cable requirements, 2 hour circuit requirements, 2 hour protection, CI cable requirements, High rise 2 hour requirements, High Rise Fire Alarm Requirements, Hospital 2 hour requirements, Hospital Fire Alarm Requirements
When Does CI Cable Need to be Used?
Circuit Integrity (CI) cable is an expensive method to ensure life safety circuits continue to function during a fire. At a cost of about $6 a foot, compared to $1.50 a foot for plenum rated fire alarm cable, why would an installer use this type of cable? Well obviously because he has to, but why [Read More]
Filed Under: 2 Hour Cabling, Code Requirements, Electrical Installation, Fire Alarm Design, High Rise, Installation Requirements, Life Safety Articles, Notification Requirements, Voice Sysytems Tagged With: 2 hour cable options, 2 hour cable rating, 2 hour cable requirements, CI Cable, CI Cable Chicago, CIC Cable, UL 2 hour cable
New Two Hour Fire Alarm Cable Update
UPDATE: 2/19/16 I received notification from a reader regarding a new UL 2196 rated CIC cable available from Radix . This is an 18 AWG cable that features two Oxygen-Free Bare Copper (OFBC) conductors insulated with ceramifiable silicone rubber, an aluminum/aramid shield, a 22 AWG solid TC drain wire and low smoke zero halogen FRPE red [Read More]
Filed Under: 2 Hour Cabling, City of Chicago Articles, Code Requirements, Installation Requirements, Life Safety Articles, Uncategorized Tagged With: Chicago Building Code, Chicago CI Cable, CI Cable Chicago, Fire Alarm Risers, Fire alarm test, Life Safety Evaluation, MI cable listing, NFPA 72, NFPA 72 testing requirements, Two Hour Cable Rating, Two Hour Rating, UL 2 hour cable, UL 2196, UL 2196 Cable, UL listed two hour cable
When does a fire alarm panel have to be in a two hour rated room?
I was recently asked a question regarding when life safety codes mandate two hour protection of the fire panel. In a general alarm, general evacuation facility, there is no code requirement. In that situation, people get out of the building immediately so there’s no need to communicate with occupants within the building after the fire department arrives. It’s only [Read More]
Filed Under: 2 Hour Cabling, Code Requirements, Installation Requirements, Life Safety Articles, Uncategorized Tagged With: Chicago Building Code, Chicago CI Cable, CI Cable Chicago, Fire Alarm Risers, Fire Alarm Survivability, Intelligible Design, Life Safety Evaluation, MI cable listing, NFPA 72, NFPA 72 survivability requirements, NFPA 72 testing requirements, Survivability Requirements, Two Hour Cable Rating, Two Hour Rating, Two Hour Requirements, UL 2 hour cable, UL 2196, UL 2196 Cable, UL listed two hour cable
Update Regarding UL 2196 Listed Cables
UPDATE!!!! There are additional cables that are listed under the FHIT portion of UL 2196. We’ve reviewed all the products listed under this category and are not advocating any particular cable, but from a life safety system installation perspective, the most interesting cable that we’ve seen involves a two conductor, 14 or 16 gauge, [Read More]
Filed Under: 2 Hour Cabling, City of Chicago Articles, Code Requirements, Installation Requirements, Life Safety Articles, Uncategorized Tagged With: Chicago Building Code, Chicago CI Cable, CI Cable Chicago, Fire Alarm Cable, Fire Alarm Risers, MI cable listing, Two Hour Cable Rating, Two Hour Rating, UL 2 hour cable, UL 2196, UL 2196 Cable, UL listed two hour cable
Installing Mineral InsuIated (MI) Cable
Mark Hall and Ben Piper of Pentair Pyrotenax/Raychem, a manufacturer of mineral insulated (MI) cable, recently posted important information in our comments section regarding the installation of MI cable in Chicago and per UL standards. Ben Piper pointed out Chicago allows MI to be installed without a raceway when used with a required fire alarm and/or emergency voice communication [Read More]
Filed Under: 2 Hour Cabling, City of Chicago Articles, Code Requirements, Installation Requirements, Life Safety Articles, Uncategorized Tagged With: Chicago Building Code, Chicago CI Cable, CI Cable, CI Cable Chicago, CIC Cable, Circuit Integrity Cable, MI Cable, MI cable listing, Mineral Insulated Cable, Two Hour Cable Rating, Two Hour Rating, UL 2 hour cable, UL 2196, UL 2196 Cable, UL listed two hour cable
CI Cable Availability Update
From UL, dated April 3, 2013: “UL 2196 & ULC-S139 Consensus Standards Update A joint U.S. and Canada standards working group of the technical committee has been formed to determine what upgrades in requirements are necessary and to deliver a single, harmonized bi-national standard. The group was provided a detailed report from the three working [Read More]
Filed Under: 2 Hour Cabling, City of Chicago Articles, Code Requirements, Installation Requirements, Life Safety Articles Tagged With: Chicago Building Code, Chicago CI Cable, CI Cable Chicago, Fire Alarm Cable, Fire Alarm Risers, MI cable listing, Two Hour Cable Rating, Two Hour Rating, UL 2 hour cable, UL listed two hour cable
CI Cable Is No Longer Listed For Two Hour Survivability…….Now What?
CI lost its UL 2196 listing in September 2012, so any installation that calls for a UL listed two hour survivability rating can’t use CI cable manufactured after then. UL states that CI cable manufactured before then was made to standards appropriate at the time so they recommend that any projects that are under way [Read More]
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