C-TEC's FastConvert conventional-to-addressable zone converter has been used at North Road Academy, an Islamic primary school in Stoke-on-Trent, in an upgrade that cut thousands of pounds from the cost of overhauling the site's fire detection system.
The school had initially considered replacing its fire system outright. After carrying out a site survey, specialist electrical contractor W R Fire & Security identified a way to improve the existing conventional system instead, converting it to an addressable system with FastConvert.
Three upgrade routes assessed
Before settling on the converter, the project team weighed three alternatives. Installing a new conventional panel would have allowed the zones to be separated and extra zones created, but it required additional cabling and would still have produced a conventional system limited to reporting zonal fire and fault information.
A full re-cable of the system was ruled out on budget grounds: it was estimated to add around £10,000 in materials and extra labour, together with substantially more disruption and a longer installation programme. A third option, converting the remaining six zones into loops, 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.
Reusing existing wiring
In the project's assessment, FastConvert avoided all three drawbacks at once. It reused the building's existing wiring, delivered a genuine loop-based addressable system rather than a conventional one, and did so without the extra cost, labour or disruption, which made it the obvious choice for the school.
Working over the old system's wiring, the converter turned the legacy conventional installation into an open-protocol CAST addressable system. According to C-TEC, the resulting system is capable of lockdown alert functionality and internet connectivity, and can accommodate its CAST-PRO combined fire detection and alarm devices, which are described as resistant to false alarms. Two radials were combined into a single loop, with a dedicated two-loop panel installed to serve FastConvert.
Contractor reports savings
Wayne Riley, managing director of W R Fire & Security, said the company was impressed by the converter's capabilities. Set against a full re-wire, which he said would have added around £10,000 to the job, or converting the remaining zones into loops at an extra £3,000 to £4,000 plus a week's labour for two engineers, FastConvert was the clear winner, he added. It reduced installation time, site disruption and labour costs and saved the project approximately £3,500.
Riley also highlighted the CAST-PRO devices, which he rated as superior to other manufacturers' products because their sounder/VADs and multi-sensors are built into the heads, removing the need for separate sounder bases.