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Fire alarm panel supply

Apostolos
Good morning.

I have a question that may sound silly so excuse my ignorance in advance

I have a Fire Alarm Panel

This is going to be fed through FP200.

However the installation of the FP200 would need an RCD because it is chased within a stud wall less than 50mm from the surface.

Can I omit the RCD on the grounds that it is a critical system for the safety of people?

Is there anything like that in BS7671?

It seems really counter intuitive to use an RCD on a Fire Alarm Panel...

Thanks
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    So it seems to be a choice between electrocuting someone or burning them alive ....

    Disregarding the requirements, I would expect a fire panel to be provided with an internal battery supply to allow the panel to continue to operate in the event of a power failure (I think four hours is normal). This may provide an alarm for the loss of the main supply (depending on how the panel is configured), so the tripping of an RCD should not be as critical as you seem to imagine. The only problem is if the panel is in a location that is not permanently manned (e.g. an office block with no night security where the battery could be depleted by the time people are on site again).

    On that basis I would suggest that there is no problem with using an RCD. However you will need to look at the pros and cons for the particular installation (plus of course the Regs.)

    Alasdair
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  • 0
    So it seems to be a choice between electrocuting someone or burning them alive ....

    Disregarding the requirements, I would expect a fire panel to be provided with an internal battery supply to allow the panel to continue to operate in the event of a power failure (I think four hours is normal). This may provide an alarm for the loss of the main supply (depending on how the panel is configured), so the tripping of an RCD should not be as critical as you seem to imagine. The only problem is if the panel is in a location that is not permanently manned (e.g. an office block with no night security where the battery could be depleted by the time people are on site again).

    On that basis I would suggest that there is no problem with using an RCD. However you will need to look at the pros and cons for the particular installation (plus of course the Regs.)

    Alasdair
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