North Road Academy, a primary school in Stoke-on-Trent, has upgraded its fire alarm system by converting existing conventional wiring into an addressable loop with C-TEC’s FastConvert, instead of replacing the system outright.
Specialist electrical contractor W R Fire & Security carried out a site survey after the school initially considered a complete replacement. The survey identified the potential to enhance the existing conventional system by converting it to an addressable system using FastConvert.
Before choosing that route, the project team assessed three alternative upgrade options, each with a different balance of cost, cabling work and disruption.
Alternatives considered
- The first was a new conventional panel. This would have allowed the zones to be separated and additional zones to be created, but it required extra cabling and would still have left the school with a conventional system able to report only zonal fire and fault information.
- The second was a full re-cable. It was ruled out on budget grounds because it would have added an estimated £10,000 in materials and additional labour, along with greater disruption and a longer installation timescale.
- The third was to convert the remaining six zones into loops. This would have added about a week to the installation for two engineers, plus additional cabling, materials and disruption, at an estimated extra cost of £3,000 to £4,000.
FastConvert was the only option that avoided all three drawbacks at once: it reused the existing wiring, delivered a genuine loop-based addressable system rather than a conventional one, and did so without the extra cost, labour or disruption.
In the installed configuration, two radials were combined into a single loop, with a dedicated two-loop panel installed for FastConvert. The conversion upgraded the school’s legacy conventional system into an open-protocol CAST addressable system.
The upgraded system is capable of lockdown alert functionality and internet connectivity, and can accommodate CAST-PRO false-alarm-resistant combined fire detection and alarm devices.
Wayne Riley, managing director of W R Fire & Security, said the contractor was impressed by FastConvert’s capabilities. He compared it with a full re-wire, which he said would have added about £10,000 to the job, and with converting the remaining zones into loops, which he said would have cost an extra £3,000 to £4,000 and a week’s extra labour for two engineers.
Riley described FastConvert as the clear winner for the project, saying it substantially reduced installation time, site disruption and labour costs, and saved approximately £3,500 on the project.
He also welcomed the new CAST-PRO devices, which he said are superior to other manufacturers’ products because the sounder/VADs and multi-sensors are built into the heads, removing the need for separate sounder bases.
For the school, the outcome was an addressable fire detection and alarm upgrade delivered without the re-cabling, longer programme and additional labour associated with the alternatives, while retaining the existing wiring infrastructure.