Fire Safety Compliance For Your Multi-Tenant Residential Buildings

You’re having a pleasant, relaxing evening, when suddenly you get THAT call—the one that no landlord ever wants to receive. There’s a fire in your building. Your mind starts to race with scenarios of a horrifying scene: Tenants without homes, beloved possessions lost, and the property you’ve worked so hard to buy and renovate literally up in smoke.

Most states have laws in place requiring multi-tenant residential units to have a working fire detection system. Engineered Security Systems can install the right system for your needs…and we’ll monitor your building to ensure legal compliance, giving you peace of mind knowing your tenants, and you, will be notified immediately in the event of a fire.

What does a fire detection system include? Fire detectors work by sensing one or more causes. The three most common detectors are:

Smoke Detectors

Smoke detectors detect the visible and invisible smoke particles from combustion. The two main types are ionization and photoelectric detectors.

Ionization Detectors

The ionization detector contains a small radioactive source that charges the air inside a tiny chamber. The charged air allows a current to cross through the chamber and complete an electrical circuit.

When smoke enters the chamber, it interrupts the current and triggers the alarm.

These detectors respond quickly to even miniscule smoke particles, but may respond very slowly to the dense smoke associated with smoldering or low-temperature fires.

Photoelectric Detectors

In a photoelectric smoke detector, a light source and light sensor are arranged so that the rays from the light source do not hit the light sensor. When smoke particles enter the light path, some of the light is scattered and redirected onto the sensor, causing the detector to activate an alarm. These detectors react quickly to visible smoke particles from smoldering fires, but are less sensitive to the smaller particles associated with flaming or very hot fires.

Heat Detectors

Heat detectors are normally used where dense smoke may be produced. Heat detectors are less sensitive, but are more appropriate than a smoke detector in these environments. The most common heat detectors either react to a broad temperature change or a predetermined fixed temperature.

Heat detectors use two thermistors (temperature-sensitive resistors) that decrease in resistance as the temperature rises. One thermistor is sealed and protected from the surrounding temperature while the other is exposed. An increase in temperature reduces the resistance in the exposed thermistor, allowing a large current to activate the detector's alarm.

Flame Detectors

Flame detectors are line-of-sight devices that look for specific types of light (including infrared, visible, and ultraviolet) emitted by flames during combustion. When the detector recognizes any one of these light variants, it activates the alarm.

ESS can install these systems to protect your tenants and your investment. We can also monitor your fire system through our Command Center, so you and the proper safety authorities will be alerted immediately.

Contact our president, David George, today at dgeorge@engineeredsecurity.comor 800-742-1263 so we can get you started on the path to increased safety.

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