North Road Academy, an Islamic primary school in Stoke-on-Trent, had initially considered replacing its fire system outright. After a site survey, specialist electrical company W R Fire & Security identified an alternative: retain the existing conventional infrastructure and convert it to an addressable system using C-TEC's FastConvert.
C-TEC calls FastConvert a conventional-to-addressable zone converter. In this project, the installer evaluated three possible upgrade options before choosing it.
Options weighed
A new conventional panel would have allowed zones to be separated and additional zones created, but would have required extra cabling and still limited the school to a conventional system able to report only zonal fire and fault information. A full re-cable was ruled out on budget grounds: it was estimated to add £10,000 in materials and labour, with greater disruption and a longer installation. Converting the remaining six zones into loops was estimated to add about a week for two engineers, plus cabling, materials and disruption, at an extra £3,000–£4,000.
FastConvert was chosen because it avoided those drawbacks at once, according to the installer. It reuses existing wiring and delivers a genuine loop-based addressable system rather than a conventional one, without the additional cost, labour and disruption associated with the other routes. Because the existing cabling could be retained, the chosen approach avoided the materials and labour that a full re-cable would have required.
Addressable capabilities
The upgrade turned the school's legacy conventional system into an open-protocol CAST addressable system. The system is capable of lockdown alert functionality and internet connectivity, and can accommodate C-TEC's CAST-PRO combined fire detection and alarm devices, which are described as false-alarm resistant. Two radials were combined into a single loop, with a dedicated two-loop panel installed for FastConvert.
Installer's assessment
Wayne Riley, managing director of W R Fire & Security, said the company was impressed with FastConvert's capabilities. He described the converter as extremely innovative in its capabilities. Comparing it with a full re-wire, which he said would have added around £10,000, or converting the remaining zones into loops, which would have cost an extra £3,000–£4,000 and a week's extra labour for two engineers, he called FastConvert the clear winner. He said it reduced installation time, site disruption and labour costs, and saved the contractor approximately £3,500 on the project.
Riley also said the CAST-PRO devices were superior to other manufacturers' products in the company's view because sounder/VADs and multi-sensors are built into the heads, removing the need for separate sounder bases.