The following three New York City Fire Department (FDNY) Rules have been amended to allow for greater flexibility of the fire alarm plan examination and inspection / approval processes:
- 3 RCNY §104-02, entitled “Professional Certification of Fire Alarm System Installations;”
- 3 RCNY §104-04, entitled “Certification of Corrected Defects in Fire Alarm System Installations;”
- 3 RCNY §105-01, entitled “Approval of Fire Alarm System Installations”
This Sparc Note exclusively discuses 3 RCNY §104-02, formerly entitled “Professional Certification of Fire Alarm System Installations”, and separate Sparc Notes will be written to explain the changes to other Rules. Below is the link to the rule text.
What Has Changed?
The new name of the amended rule 3 RCNY §104-02 is now “Professional Certification of Fire Alarm System Design and Installations” and allows for the certification of a fire alarm system design and installation without requiring an FDNY plan examination or an FDNY inspection. The intent of this amended rule is to reduce the approval process for certain fire alarm system modifications.
How Can I qualify to Participate?
The following are critical qualifying points for use of this new procedure:
- The base building fire alarm system must be provided with a Letter of Approval
- The equipment may not be part of the building core fire alarm system
- The design must be signed and sealed by a Licensed Professional Engineer
- The installation must be certified by a Registered Design Professional, master electrician, special electrician or fire alarm system installed with NICET Level III certification licensed by the State of New York
- Any qualifying party participating in the professional certification of the design or installation must obtain the proper Certificate of Fitness from the NYC Fire Department
To qualify for participation in the professional certification of fire alarm system design and installation, the modifications cannot be part of the core fire alarm system. The Rule provides a complete list of those items qualifying as “building core fire alarm system”; however, they include items such as fire alarm control units, central station, elevator recall, sprinkler waterflow and tampers, certain duct detectors, etc.
What is the Process?
Prior to reviewing the process, it should be noted that participation in either the professional certification of fire alarm system design (plan examination) or installation does not require you to also participate in the other (i.e. professional certification of design is not required to professionally certify the installation and vice versa).
Design Approval – The first step for this process is to obtain approval for the design. All design documents must be prepared in compliance with the New York City Fire Code, New York City Building Code, New York City Electrical Code and the Rule. The documents are to be electronically filed with FDNY for approval either for standard plan examination or professional certification. After obtaining plan examination approval, the installation may be professionally certified or participate in the standard FDNY inspection process.
Installation Approval – For professional certification of the installation, the fire alarm system must be tested by a person with the qualifications required by the Rule. After the completion of successful testing, certification must be filed electronically with FDNY for issuance of the Letter of Approval.
As part of the FDNY audit process for professional certification of fire alarm system design and installations, false certifications will result in the revocation of the Certificate of Fitness and participation in this process.
How Can We Help?
Sparc Fire Protection can provide all of these services for your project. Sparc’s licensed engineers are familiar with, and often involved in, the code development process. We also perform fire alarm system design and testing services on a regular basis for varying occupancies. It is important that participation in this process be performed by knowledgeable parties to ensure you are in compliance with the codes and future audits by the FDNY do not require changes to the work already implemented. Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can help provide guidance on your project.
Keep an eye out for future Sparc notes related to this topic as additional guidelines are issued by FDNY.
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