It goes hand in hand with major similar issues in the fire risk assessors sector and the building control sector where many assessors and BCOs would not recognise a none compliant alarm design or installation if it slapped them in the face.
I have just insisted on a ?100k complete reinstall at one brand new student complex in The South East where the initial design and install was not fit for purpose, another smaller site in Yorkshire which was experiencing 40 unwanted alarms per week due to crass schoolboy errors and was issued a fire enforcement notice on completion.. I could list a number of other examples. In the cases quoted final design of the fire alarm was left to the electrical contractor and did not even conform to the architects initial approved fire strategy.
The problems are down to aggressive developers, lack of coordination and communication in the design team especially where the interested parties are based in different countries and never meet or visit the site, unrealistic deadlines in the construction phase leading to all trades falling over each other, fire engineering consultancies who rather than sending a rubbish design back to the architect contrive trumped up justifications that do not withstand the slightest scrutiny and approved inspectors who are in the pockets of the developers and hide behind the fire engineering report when they should be tearing it up and rejecting it.
The building industry is in the worst state I have ever seen it in my 41 year career. Fire alarms are only one part of the problem, look at passive fire protection,fire doors and structural fire protection, emergency lighting installation all in a similar state. Tie this in with increasing use of timber and especially modular construction and I fear for the future.
But everybody involved is proud to show off their ever increasing collection of badges on their website.
