Fire alarm - DIY or Electrician?

Ebe_Scrooge

I'm going to need to add some more fire alarms to comply with these new regulations that are coming into force next year.  The house already has one alarm in the hall and one in the landing, mains-powered and inter-connected.  One needed replacing a couple of years ago, cheap enough to buy and a doddle to fit.

Now, I'm pretty experienced with DIY - have completely re-wired 2 houses in my time, amongst other things.  Adding the required new alarms to the lounge and kitchen will be simple enough, apart from the ball-ache of lifting the floorboards upstairs to run the wiring.  A simple question - am I allowed to do this myself, or am I going to be forced to shell out for a sparky?  From a technical point of view I've got no qualms about doing the job myself, but I'm blowed if I can find any definitive rules about whether you're allowed to DIY it.  All the government and fire service websites say hardwired interlinked systems "should" be installed by a qualified electrician, but I can't see anywhere that says they "must".  Especially if it's just adding a couple of extra alarms to an existing system, I kind of resent paying someone to do a job I can easily do myself.

If it were me, I'd just do it anyway, but the Mrs. is adamant that she wants it to be certified if it's supposed to be, in case the house burns down and the insurance refuses to pay up :-)

Rodders53

Presumably this is Scotland?

Depending on the alarm brand you could fit 10 year battery wireless units that may even interconnect to the existing mains ones?

Ebe_Scrooge

Rodders53 said:

Presumably this is Scotland?

Depending on the alarm brand you could fit 10 year battery wireless units that may even interconnect to the existing mains ones?

Yes, Scotland.  That was the other option - remove the existing ones, and replace the lot with a full set of wireless units.  Just didn't want to shell out unnecessary cash lol.  Hadn't thought about adding a couple of wireless units that could connect with the existing wired ones - thanks for the idea, I'll look into it.

For what it's worth, I think it's a bit overkill.  I completely get that all homes should have, at a minimum, one alarm on each story.  Our house was built with the wired alarms installed, and they work well.  I don't see how adding one to the lounge will add anything in terms of safety - we never close the lounge door, so if a fire starts in the lounge at night, the alarm in the hall will sense it, and both the upstairs and downstairs alarms will go off.  But hey-ho, them's the rules, and I guess we need to comply for fear of having problems with insurance if the worst should ever happen :-(

pramsay13

The legislation is that the alarms are to be interlinked, not that they have to be wired to each other, or the mains.
There will be no certifying required in terms of the legislation so you can wire them up yourself if you are competent.

Risteard

pramsay13 said:

The legislation is that the alarms are to be interlinked, not that they have to be wired to each other, or the mains.
There will be no certifying required in terms of the legislation so you can wire them up yourself if you are competent.

Domestic smoke alarm installations should be certified to BS 5839-6 (as well as the electrical installation to BS 7671).

Apodemus

Risteard said:

Domestic smoke alarm installations should be certified to BS 5839-6 (as well as the electrical installation to BS 7671).

Indeed, but I think the point pramsay13 was making was that there is no requirement in the legislation for a new domestic installation to be inspected and certified, so it can be done as a DIY installation. This forms part of "Tolerable Standards" in Housing legislation and if it was to be enforced it would fall under local authority Building Control procedures.

It is also perhaps worth noting that Part 6 of BS 5839 covers a range of options not all of which would meet the requirements of the new Scottish legislation.

neilmcl

As mentioned there are options for wire free, interlinked alarms.

https://www.safefiredirect.co.uk/smoke-fire-gas-detection/smoke-heat-detectors/wireless-fire-alarm-systems.aspx

Homer_home

Ebe_Scrooge said:

Rodders53 said:

Presumably this is Scotland?

Depending on the alarm brand you could fit 10 year battery wireless units that may even interconnect to the existing mains ones?

Yes, Scotland.  That was the other option - remove the existing ones, and replace the lot with a full set of wireless units.  Just didn't want to shell out unnecessary cash lol.  Hadn't thought about adding a couple of wireless units that could connect with the existing wired ones - thanks for the idea, I'll look into it.

For what it's worth, I think it's a bit overkill.  I completely get that all homes should have, at a minimum, one alarm on each story.  Our house was built with the wired alarms installed, and they work well.  I don't see how adding one to the lounge will add anything in terms of safety - we never close the lounge door, so if a fire starts in the lounge at night, the alarm in the hall will sense it, and both the upstairs and downstairs alarms will go off.  But hey-ho, them's the rules, and I guess we need to comply for fear of having problems with insurance if the worst should ever happen :-(

You have the same feelings as me.

An insurance won't refuse to pay out because you don't have enough smoke detectors if your house burns down (incredibly incredibly rare) because as you know smoke detectors are designed to alert you of a fire so you can get out in good time and therefore save your life 

They are not designed to stop fire only to save lives 

I'm not sure where your missus is coming from on this one after all if your house burns down so will any certification to say it was installed correctly 

Personally I wouldn't bother installing the additional alarms if your house already has decent coverage , the only time it MIGHT become a problem is when you decide to sell 

Mickey666

Homer_home said:

Ebe_Scrooge said:

Rodders53 said:

Presumably this is Scotland?

Depending on the alarm brand you could fit 10 year battery wireless units that may even interconnect to the existing mains ones?

Yes, Scotland.  That was the other option - remove the existing ones, and replace the lot with a full set of wireless units.  Just didn't want to shell out unnecessary cash lol.  Hadn't thought about adding a couple of wireless units that could connect with the existing wired ones - thanks for the idea, I'll look into it.

For what it's worth, I think it's a bit overkill.  I completely get that all homes should have, at a minimum, one alarm on each story.  Our house was built with the wired alarms installed, and they work well.  I don't see how adding one to the lounge will add anything in terms of safety - we never close the lounge door, so if a fire starts in the lounge at night, the alarm in the hall will sense it, and both the upstairs and downstairs alarms will go off.  But hey-ho, them's the rules, and I guess we need to comply for fear of having problems with insurance if the worst should ever happen :-(

You have the same feelings as me.

An insurance won't refuse to pay out because you don't have enough smoke detectors if your house burns down (incredibly incredibly rare) because as you know smoke detectors are designed to alert you of a fire so you can get out in good time and therefore save your life 

They are not designed to stop fire only to save lives 

I'm not sure where your missus is coming from on this one after all if your house burns down so will any certification to say it was installed correctly 

Personally I wouldn't bother installing the additional alarms if your house already has decent coverage , the only time it MIGHT become a problem is when you decide to sell 

That’s a good point.   I had someone from the local fire station come out to advise about alarms and extinguishers and general fire safety.  Very interesting and helpful EXCEPT regarding extinguishers.  Basically, he would not give any advice about extinguishers and would only focus on the various types of alarm (smoke, heat, interlinked etc) and escape routes.  As he said before he left, ‘we’re in the business of saving lives, not buildings - get out and call 999’
I subsequently discovered that there is no VAT on fire alarm work and my eight mains-powered (with battery backup of course), all inter-linked and with a ‘control centre’ switch for testing and silencing all but the activated alarm was only £600 fully installed.

Risteard

Mickey666 said:

I subsequently discovered that there is no VAT on fire alarm work

That's definitely not correct.

Mickey666

Risteard said:

Mickey666 said:

I subsequently discovered that there is no VAT on fire alarm work

That's definitely not correct.

Well it's definitely correct that MY electrician didn't charge me VAT for this work - and yes, he is vat-registered and no, I didn't pay in cash.