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H ere are two reader questions regarding the time it should take for fire depart- ment dispatch once a fire alarm signal has been initiated: • We have been told several times by inspectors in three nearby townships that we "failed to notify their communications center in time" during functional acceptance tests of new fire alarm systems. Where is it explained how long we have in this regard in NFPA 72 (2010, 2013 and 2016 editions)? • What happened to the big push to have [all] fire alarm signals verified before dispatching the fire department (we are still using the 2010 edition of NFPA 72 in my state)? ese questions can both be answered with the same code. In Chapter 14 of NFPA 72, "Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance," at 14.4.3.2(4)(a)(b), you will find one place stating the communication time allowed for your monitoring company to receive and record the alarm signal: "Receipt of the correct initiating device signal at the supervising station within 90 seconds shall be verified." en, in Chapter 26, "Supervising Station Alarm Systems," section 26.6.3.1.10 gives us the "End-to- End Communication Time(s) for Alarm(s)" — which is the same in the 2010, 2013 and 2016 editions: "e maximum duration between the initia- tion of an alarm signal at the protected premises, transmission of the signal, and subsequent display and recording of the alarm signal at the supervising station shall not exceed 90 seconds." Notice the stated transmission time is a maximum of 90 seconds, regard- less of the transmission technology being used. When the alarm is seen and heard at the protected prem- ise, you have up to 90 seconds for the monitoring company to accept and record the alarm signal successfully. For this step, 90 seconds is clearly the maximum time allowed. Step two starts at the end of the first step and allows for the time it takes an operator at the monitoring company to read the account infor- mation and instructions shown on the screen and possibly handle an incoming call from the subscriber. e Annex explains that routine han- dling should take a maximum of 90 seconds from receipt/display of an alarm signal at the supervising sta- tion until "initiation of retransmission to the communications center." You and the inspector may verify this using the monitoring company's soware to confirm that the operator clicked on "CALL FD" within 90 sec- onds of their receipt and display of the alarm signal. is second step allows another 90 seconds aer the first step is successful. One issue is that the operator's call is now at the mercy of the telephone company, which is regulated by the FCC, and the call may not go through as promptly as the local inspector thinks it should. A high-traffic fast busy signal, a busy signal at the local fire department or communication center itself, the waiting time on hold, or any malfunction of the telephone system at any point extends this time and will not look good for you, but cannot flat-out be considered a failure on your part. In 2013, a new third step became an option: NFPA 72's "Alarm Signal Preverification" rule (26.2.2), which allowed the local fire authority to require "alarm signal verification" for specific properties deemed to be trou- blemakers due to excessive unwanted alarm signals. If you are using the 2013 edition, and a fire alarm signal comes in from an account for which the local FD requires verification of a "true fire," the operators will first have to call the FD and inform them an operator is in the process of contacting someone at the site to verify if the signal that came in was a false/unwanted alarm or not. is section in 2013 read: "Where Alarm Signal verification is required by the responsible fire department, the supervising station shall immediately notify the communications center that a fire Alarm Signal has been received and verification is in process." However, the new section in 2013 for "Alarm Signal Preverification" was eliminated from the 2016 edition, and the preverification phone call was removed. But the 2016 edition largely kept the eight verification rules and restated one — item No. 5 was made clearer in describing 'how' and 'when' alarm signal verification was to be applied. Another new 2013 edition veri- fication rule went away in the 2016 edition. In the 2013 version of NFPA 66 Security Dealer & Integrator / www.SecurityInfoWatch.com October 2016 Fire & Life Safety BY GREG KESSINGER, SET, CFPS, IMSA, CDT, ICC Fire Alarm Signa Fire Alarm Signal Transmission 2016 code changes regarding the length of time it should take between an alarm and fire dispatch