![]() ![]() Section 26.3.8.3.4 states that dispatch or maintenance personnel must arrive within four hours of receiving the signal. In accordance with the National Fire and Alarm and Signaling Code section 26.3.8.3.3(2), dispatch runner or maintenance personnel shall arrive and investigate any supervisory signal within two hours of receipt at the supervising station. ![]() The signals generated are alarm, trouble, and supervisory signals. Three main signals and responses occur with fire protection and life safety systems. In other words, someone that responds to the initiated signal to see if the system has an impairment and major issue. The National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code states that a runner tries to restore, reset, and silence all equipment that transmits fire alarm, trouble, and supervisory signals to an off-premises location. Although an alarm signal goes through the same supervising station, it also is a signal that initiates an emergency response. ![]() These automatically initiated signals go directly to a supervising station and are different from an alarm signal. Just to be clear, a runner is someone who responds to trouble and supervisory signals created by a building’s fire protection system. For this article, I plan to outline the general code and standard requirements in accordance with the 2021 edition of NFPA 101, Life Safety Code, and the 2022 edition of NFPA 72, National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code. This issue goes outside of the normal realm of the electrical industry but encompasses all components of a building that are designed, installed, inspected, and maintained to ensure that the building occupants can safely egress or relocate to a safe area during an emergency. Responding to a non-emergency electrical issue compared to a major impairment that placed all the building occupants in a vulnerable situation really increased my understanding and responsibility. Although both positions were different in many ways, one thing remained the same we were acting as the cape-less hero of the day. Then fortunately for me, I was placed into another position where my role was to provide and oversee a responding service (a runner) for fire protection and life safety systems. Our duty in the service department was to react to issues, analyze the problem, and make corrections as necessary. For the first half of my career in the field, I worked with a large electrical firm in the service department. For most of my career, I’ve been involved in a part of the industry that focuses on impairments for electrical and fire alarm systems. ![]()
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