I Have The Power…Or Do I? A Simple Example of How a Small Error Can Cause a Potential Large Impact
“My circuit is not working. My strobes are not flashing. What happened?”
You are on site observing a pre-test for a fire alarm system. You’re working with a general contractor who is scrambling to finish their project by the due date. There is no float left and the stakes are high. Your vendor assures you that the system is laid out in accordance with the approved submittal. It will function and you’re ready to begin your pre-test.
You begin testing your visual devices for the proper candela, synchronization, flash rate, etc. As you reach the 3rd circuit from a power supply, you find a portion of it flashing, but several toward the end of the circuit are not working. There are no trouble indications on the fire alarm panel, no readily apparent cause. What could have happened?
Forensics
You cut your installing contractor/vendor loose to begin troubleshooting and then tell the owner that there will be delay. That afternoon, your installing contractor/vendor calls and tells you that the circuit you were testing is pulling more current than the power supply output is rated for. How could this be? All of the calculations show adequate supply, proper circuit loading, etc. The strobes candela settings matched the approved submittal drawings. After a longer deep-dive from the vendor’s shop drawing designer, you find out that the power supply output capacity of the circuit in question was rated for 3 amps, while the value used for that output in the submittal was 4 amps. The culprit? A copy/paste error. That’s it.
This was a real-world example and all-too-common. In this case, installing contractor/vendor needed to add several Notification Appliance Circuit (NAC) power supplies and split several of the existing circuits into more total circuits, install new cabling and conduit, and recalculate all of it before being able to begin again.
Impact
This project ultimately missed its target completion date by only a few days, and while liquidated damages were not assessed, they easily could have been. The installation contractor/vendor had cost overruns for overtime, the general contractor was impacted similarly, and the engineer of record had travel cost impacts due to delays in completion. The owner’s overall schedule was only slightly impacted, but it could have been much worse.
Mitigation
Much of this, and similar problems, can be mitigated through a third-party review. At Precision Alarm Review, this is one of many scenarios we look for. When comparing submitted material to calculations, it is extremely common to find a misplaced value for a component or device. Many times, you’ll an error like that “carried forward” into other similar circuits in larger projects. It’s an example of how a very small error can create a much bigger impact than expected.
Contact us today to find out more about how we can help you avoid this type of scenario.
My Introduction and Why We’re Here
The vision for this service comes from a common thread throughout my career: fire alarm, while important to us in the industry, is less important to owners, engineers and contractors until it’s time to go get occupancy for your project… if you just want some peace of mind that this portion of your project can be built according to the shop drawings and submittals you’ve received, I can help fill that gap.
Hello everyone. Most of my background will appear below, however I know many of you want me to get to the point first. So I suppose the title is a little backward.
Who is Precision Alarm Review?
With over my 25+ years in the fire protection engineering field, mostly centered on the fire alarm side, I have found there to be less emphasis on the required accuracy of drawings and submittals in the fire alarm area when compared with other areas. While most vendors and major suppliers are on point with things like their calculations and installations, when errors do occur, sometimes they can appear small, but yet snowball into bigger things, affecting:
Resubmittals, requiring repeat reviews
Errors in calculations not caught during review that carry forward into larger errors. (While many vendors have easy programs or spreadsheets to help, I’ve witnessed copy/paste errors that can just as easily torpedo a project)
Errors can cause a system to fail in functionality, whether it’s insufficient battery backup power or an overloaded output circuit.
All of these things can incur very costly delays to getting your occupancy permit.
If you are in a large engineering firm with their own fire protection engineering department, our service is most likely not for you. If, however, you run a smaller firm or are not as familiar with alarm details and calculations and where some pitfalls may lie, that is a gap we can help fill. So go ahead and explore, and see if we have something to offer you. If you want a little more about me, the next section, ironically not the first, is a little more intro.
Back to the intro.
Welcome, and thank you for stopping by. I'm Russ Lawrence, the proprietor of this website and its related services. My journey here is highlighted by technical experience that is extensive and diverse, starting with my time in the United States Navy's Nuclear Propulsion program. Fresh out of high school, I was uncertain about my future career, but I was certain it had to involve technology.
Lacking substantial funds (as did my parents, even though they were comfortably middle class), college wasn't a viable option at the time. It was part of my objective for joining the service, a story I plan to tell in a future blog post. Joining the Navy provided the catalyst I needed to embark on the lengthy and complex journey into this industry.
After serving eight years in the Navy, including two years at the University of Washington, I was honorably discharged and transitioned my expertise in electronics and nuclear plants to the fire alarm industry. The skills turned out to be quite transferable. Over the past 25+ years, I have dedicated myself to the fire protection industry, primarily focusing on alarms, while also expanding into HVAC controls, fire suppression, smoke control, and system interfacing. My roles have ranged from technician to designer, project manager, and Fire Protection Engineer, to acting as an Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) for a large corporation with its own fire brigade. My experience spans various sectors, including semiconductor fabrication plants, high-rise buildings, museums, and aircraft hangars.
In my time in the industry, I’ve worked with contractors, directly with owners, engineering firms, architects and various AHJs. The vision for this service comes from a common thread throughout my career: fire alarm, while important to us in the industry, is less important to owners, engineers and contractors until it’s time to go get occupancy for your project. Compare that with the qualifications of a registered professional fire protection engineer, whose expertise is more geared towards fire dynamics, fire suppression, and sciences related to that and many times you’ll find a gap when it comes to nuances of alarm systems. This is not a knock against any registered professional engineer, but if you’re one that has seen their fair share of problems when it comes time to start up a system, or if you just want some peace of mind that this portion of your project can be built according to the shop drawings and submittals you’ve received, I can help fill that gap.
In my forthcoming blog entries, I will explore prevalent gaps that I've noticed. To reach out to me, please click the "Contact" link at the top of the page.
-RL