Roughly 20 people die in house fires every year. Most of these preventable deaths occur while occupants are asleep or unable to detect or respond to a fire. Smoke alarms are vital to give occupants early warning of potentially life-threatening situations and to allow enough time for them all to escape or to be assisted to escape, safely.
Standards New Zealand recently published an updated and revised Standard for Interconnected smoke alarms in houses, NZS 4514:2009. Architects, fire engineers, and electricians can use NZS 4514:2009 to install smoke alarms in houses to prevent loss of life and provide ongoing protection.
'Externally-powered, interconnected smoke alarms with battery backup, as described in NZS 4514:2009, provide the best chance of the whole family surviving a house fire', says David Prosser, Chair of the development committee.
'While not currently specified in the New Zealand Building Code Acceptable Solutions, the NZS 4514:2009 development committee hopes that this Standard will soon become the benchmark for smoke alarms in New Zealand homes.'
NZS 4514:2009 provides comprehensive, easy to follow information including updated tables and figures. The revised Standard applies to externally-powered interconnected smoke alarms installed in houses and:
- includes updated practices for the selection, installation, commissioning, and maintenance of externally-powered interconnected smoke alarms in houses
- puts more emphasis on the selection of different types of smoke alarms for different areas in a house to avoid nuisance activations
- specifies maintenance requirements in more detail and as part of the Standard, rather than being for guidance
- explicitly recognises some advances in technology
- clarifies and strengthens power supply requirements
- includes a new informative Appendix A giving guidance on retrofitting smoke alarms in existing buildings.