UL 864 in Full Force
Staff -- Consulting-Specifying Engineer, 6/1/2006
The effects of UL's 9th edition to its fire alarm standard—UL 864—were visible at this year's NFPA World Safety Conference in Orlando. A number of manufacturers had placards and pamphlets explaining the standard's new requirements, and specifically how their particular product now complies or is outright approved.
"I know it's very critical for us," said Jeff Hendrickson with Silent Knight. "Everything we're showing is UL-compliant."
For the record, the new UL requirements call for a number of improvements, including more stringent power supply testing, more battery monitoring and better synchronization with notification appliances.
FireLite saw the change as an opportunity to roll out a whole new line of products. According to the company's Nick Martello, they started the process three years ago, and their panels are not just compliant, they're UL-864-approved. Some of the new features of their MS 9050UD and MS-9200UDLS panels include a common enclosure, modular components and a chassis that features an easy-to-mount clipping system.
Elsewhere, Simplex debuted its 4100U InfoAlarm command center, which, according to company representative Skip Vandeventer, offers users more information with simpler access. Perhaps its most notable feature is the bilingual library.
Gamewell/FCI displayed its E3 line with the focal point of new changes being its new graphic workstation. According to Gamewell's John Weaver, the new interface brings up a visual of the particular alarming device, including a map indicating where the actual alarm is going off.
