A school fire-safety upgrade in Stoke-on-Trent has avoided a full system replacement by converting the existing conventional network to an addressable loop using C-TEC’s FastConvert. North Road Academy, an Islamic primary school, had initially considered replacing its fire system outright, but installer W R Fire & Security identified a retrofit path after carrying out a site survey.
FastConvert is a conventional-to-addressable zone converter. According to the project account, it allowed the school to retain existing wiring while gaining a loop-based addressable system. W R Fire & Security estimates the approach saved about £3,500 compared with the alternatives examined.
Three alternatives assessed
Before choosing FastConvert, the project team considered three other upgrade routes:
- A new conventional panel, which would have separated zones and allowed additional zones, but required extra cabling and would still have reported only zonal fire and fault information.
- A full re-cable, ruled out on budget grounds. It was estimated to add £10,000 in materials and additional labour, with greater disruption and a longer installation timetable.
- Converting the remaining six zones into loops, which would have added about a week’s work for two engineers plus cabling, materials and disruption, at an estimated extra cost of £3,000 to £4,000.
FastConvert was the only option that avoided all three drawbacks at once, the account states: it reused the existing wiring, delivered a genuine loop-based addressable system rather than a conventional one, and did so without the additional cost, labour or disruption associated with the other routes.
Implementation at the school
Using the legacy system’s wiring, the converter upgraded the school’s conventional installation to an open-protocol CAST addressable system. The resulting system is described as capable of lockdown alert functionality and internet connectivity, and able to accommodate C-TEC’s CAST-PRO false-alarm-resistant combined fire detection and alarm devices.
To achieve this, two radials were combined into a single loop, and a dedicated two-loop panel was installed for FastConvert.
Wayne Riley, managing director of W R Fire & Security, said the company was impressed with FastConvert’s capabilities. He said that against a full re-wire, which would have added around £10,000, or converting the remaining zones into loops, which would have cost £3,000 to £4,000 plus a week’s extra labour for two engineers, FastConvert was the clear winner. Riley added that it reduced installation time, site disruption and labour costs, and saved the project approximately £3,500.
Riley also commented on the CAST-PRO devices, saying the company considered them superior to other manufacturers’ products because the sounder/VADs and multi-sensors are built into the heads, removing the need for separate sounder bases.
For North Road Academy, the result was an addressable fire-safety system delivered through the existing cabling, with the installer reporting lower cost and disruption than the full-replacement and re-cable options it had assessed.