School Expansion: Voice vs. Horn FA Upgrade?

3/25/2019

A middle school is being expanded by two classrooms and about six small offices and supports spaces. The addition is separated by a fire barrier from the main school, and the existing school has a temporal-3 horn/strobe fire alarm system throughout (and is fully-sprinklered).

Current code requires an emergency voice/alarm communication system for the expansion, which the design team intends to provide.

The question is how to address the interaction between the new voice system and the existing? Is this purely and AHJ call?

Ideally, the school should consider upgrading their entire fire alarm system to voice for a cohesive message and best benefit. However, funding is very tight and we're not confident they'll have the support they need to do a full upgrade at this time.

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5 Comments

PETE

3/25/2019 10:22:32 am

How old is the existing? If it is old enough, you may be able to make the point that you cannot accomplish strobe synchronization using new and old devices. This is mandated in 72, and it's an ADA requirement.

Raul Vasquez

3/25/2019 10:54:17 am

Unless you see two or more in line of sight, sync would not be the greatest issue nor integration. the issue is conflicting evacuation tones and or vocal messages. the old horns may be mechanical steady, march time, California, there could be electro mech, temporal 3 and the voice system could be programmed to play the same through the speakers utilizing a digital sound clip to match, but you cant offer voice evac to one side and not the other

its a federal, state, county and AHJ decision.

with alarms its not necessary to perform a full upgrade unless its mandated for this addition, so the option of expanding to the new areas utilizing a synced A/V power supply triggered by the old system is one valid route. The main point is to have the same notification for evacuation and then look into sync. There are audio clips to match what's existing out there if your panel manufacturer has the means of utilizing them in programming, but for one section to have voice and not the other is not standard. you can prep that portion of the building for the future with speaker strobes and not play a voice evacuation and do play the same evacuation tones used in the other side of the school.

Jason Lupa, PE

4/29/2022 09:01:14 am

Current code requires an emergency voice/alarm communication system for K-12 schools. Since the renovations will be done in phases, there will be a period with new and existing notification appliances. Speakers should be installed for the new work, but initially programmed to broadcast a NFPA 72 Temporal-3 tone to match the non-renovated areas with Temporal-3 horns. Once the entire project has been upgraded to voice, the speakers can be reprogrammed to broadcast voice messages.

Andrew Paul Valente

10/3/2024 08:26:15 am

But IFC, Section 1103.7, exception allows previously approved fire alarm systems, meaning voice/alarm communication systems are not required in the existing building. I think the code needs to address this case when you are adding to an existing Temporal system and at what point you need to upgrade to voice/alarm throughout.

In this scenario you will have voice in one part and T-3 in another, which might just cause confusion.

Maybe when the existing Control Equipment can no longer be supported?

Jason Lupa, PE

4/21/2025 08:56:35 am

Upgrading an existing non-voice notification fire alarm system to voice evacuation capabilities involves replacing the existing horn notification appliances and adding voice communication features to the control panel. This upgrade enhances safety by providing clear, verbal instructions during emergencies.

Fire alarm speaker/strobe appliances require a large and deep electrical backbox. This is due to the separate strobe and speaker circuits along with the speaker components. Since the existing horn/strobe appliances typically use a small single gang or standard depth 4” square electrical backbox, the existing locations can not be used for combination speaker/strobes. Also the existing wirepath may not be sized for the additional circuits.

For most existing fire alarm notification upgrades, I recommend replacing the existing horn/strobes with new strobes; the existing 24VDC circuits and power supplies will also remain. New speakers will be installed in the ceiling with new audio circuits. Here is a typical installation sequence:

1. Notification Appliances: Install new ceiling speaker appliances with new wire & backbox T-bar in tandem with the existing notification signals. This will be accomplished one area at a time, as coordinated with the owner. Speakers shall be programmed to sound NFPA 72 temporal-3 tones to match the existing horns.

2. Preliminary Acceptance Test: Perform an NFPA 72 Acceptance test for all new head end and field equipment with Fire Alarm Technician.

3. Replace existing horn/ strobe appliances with new strobes using existing wire, backbox and power supplies.

4. Extend strobe circuits to select new locations shown on the conduction documents using new wire, backboxes.

5. Reprogram speakers for automatic voice evacuation message.

6. Finial Acceptance Test: Perform an NFPA 72 Acceptance test for all new field appliances with Fire Alarm Technician.

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School Expansion: Voice vs. Horn FA Upgrade?

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