The need for a fire alarm

The need for a fire alarm system in a particular building will normally be determined by the fire authorities responsible for enforcing fire safety legislation in that building and/or by a fire risk assessment carried out by the owner, landlord, occupier(s) or employer(s), as appropriate. In general, it is appropriate to install some form of fire alarm system in virtually all buildings, other than very small premises that are relatively open-planned so that any fire will be quickly detected by occupants, who will be able to warn others by word of mouth or simple mechanical devices such as hand-operated bells.

Manual fire alarm systems are often sufficient to satisfy legislation in workplaces in which no one sleeps.
Automatic fire detection is usually required by legislation to supplement a manual fire alarm system in premises in
which people sleep. An Automatic fire alarm with fire detection might also be necessary to satisfy legislation under the following
circumstances:

a) where the automatic fire detection forms part of a fire engineering solution;
b) where fire protection systems, such as door closing facilities or smoke control systems, are to be operated
automatically in the event of fire;
c) where the low level of occupancy of a building, or part of a building, is such as to create the potential
for fire to prejudice means of escape by occupants before they are aware of the fire.