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| From the Editor's Desk... |
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A new email address for the newsletter!
In an effort to make things easier for our members, sending articles for the newsletter is now easier than ever.
Simply use the email address above and I'll receive your article. The same criteria still applies. Please put "newsletter" or "article" in the subject line to assure opening.
Please try to avoid PDF format for newsletter submissions.
Try it. You'll like it!
Puddin Race,
St. Lucie County
772-621-3450 |
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Members... join our Members only section. Click Here
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Greetings from Wes |
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Keeping a Strong Foundation
It is not a surprise at this point to anyone that times are financially tough and probably will be for the next few years. Which brings up the topic of what our association will look like in those next few years? With that in mind, it is my view that now is the time, more than ever, for us all to step up to the plate in supporting the needs of each other and for the executive board to push harder in supporting the needs of the membership. Recently I have shared my thoughts and views to the board on how we should be operating and received great support from those on the board.
The Florida Fire Marshal's and Inspectors Association is a highly respected group, not only within our State, but throughout the United States. In saying that, we have members that watch our backs by keeping in touch with Tallahassee, by offering time to the National Fire Protection Association and attending endless meetings of other organizations for our benefit. However, as important as those items are, our fundamental purpose is the education of our membership. In doing so, classes are put together and offered throughout the state. But we improve by operating effectively in communicating openly. Each person on the board has specific duties which we all, without hesitation, wish to accomplish.
The direction I wish to take as President is to provide for the needs of the membership. Chuck Akers has been doing an outstanding job and works extremely hard for all of us. Chuck has carried the brunt of our educational needs and puts in endless hours to see that needs are met. I am trying to find ways to make things more affordable and efficient for all of us. Recommendations from the board have been outstanding and we will do our best to implement them.
First Vice President Jeff Collins had a great idea for each county to have a representative selected by their Regional Director. That representative would communicate the needs of their county's fire marshals and inspectors to the Regional Director. However, all members could also contact their Regional Director themselves if needed. At same time I have requested that each Regional Director stay in contact each of the county representatives on a regular basis, but not less than quarterly and provide a report to the Second Vice President, Ed Riley, on a quarterly basis. Ed has devised a form that is easy to use and can be sent via e-mail.
We all know that the FFMIA is committed to the membership, but we have to show that commitment to Fire Departments throughout the State of Florida. In other words, market our organization. In providing more educational opportunities, having continued open communication and doing it at the low price of a membership fee is a great way to start. The bottom line is this, if the foundation of our membership remains strong and well informed we can be the greatest we can ever be.
I am looking forward to the next two years as your president, and along with the rest of the board promise to do the best to achieve any needs the membership may have. Do not hesitate to contact me with concerns and do not hesitate to contact your Regional Director.
Wes Hayes, President
Florida Fire Marshal's and Inspector's Association
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| Salutations from Puddin |
Welcome to December. Are you ready for Christmas and good cheer?
There are lots of holiday safety tips on the NFPA website. You will find copyable fact sheets, PSAs at NFPA.org. For those of you who have thought NFPA materials were much too expensive, visit the site for lots of FREE materials. NFPA.org has been revamped into a more user friendly site. Sparky's holiday cards can still be found at Sparky.org.
Sadly, there are always drownings during the holidays when family members are distracted from pool-watching duties by guests. This is a perfect time to remind the public that the water is always attractive to youngsters.
I wish each of you a wonderful holiday season of making memories with your families and friends. May you find many moments to treasure. Stay safe.
Regards,
Puddin Race, Chair | |
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| Important Notice Regarding Student ID's |
Remember... the association no longer accepts social security numbers when signing the sign in sheets at our seminars or conferences. You will need to go to the Florida State Fire College Website, get signed in and get your Student ID. This is the only number that will be accepted.
Article Provided by:
Chuck Akers Executive Director, FFMIA |
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They came, they learned, they went home
61st FFMIA Annual Conference
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| Director (more about that later). FFCA President Stuart McElhaney provided a welcome and words of encouragement to the attendees, followed NFPA's southeast regional director, Randy Safer. We thank Randy and NFPA profusely for their many, many years of support to the FFMIA. Maitland's Mayor, the Honorable Douglas T. Kinson warmed the group with encouraging words about our work and then invited the attendees to appreciate the area while visiting.
Next was Maitland Fire Rescue Department's Fire Chief Ken Neuhard. Chief Neuhard followed with a stab at some reference to a guy in Key West a few years ago. Chief Neuhard also bridged this year's conference to the one at the Maitland Sheraton in 2002. Providing a brief historical account and description of Maitland and the its fire department, Chief Neuhard invited conference attendees, hotel staff and the public at large to avail themselves of seasonal flu shots during the day in the hotel lobby and many did just that.
Chuck Akers then cared for the 'housekeeping' matters applicable to the week's activities leaving us with the very comfortable 'at-home' feeling. The entire assembly then adjourned for refreshments as they prepared for the following general session topic that was the conference theme "Pride, Professionalism and Passion", presented by Mr. Ben May, Business Development Director for Epcot. If you had any doubts about the meaning of the topic, Mr. May certainly helped us understand the appropriateness of this in our industry.
Jim Bowie, Executive Director for the South Carolina Fire Sprinkler Association, kept all in the auditorium riveted as he offered his topic "Leadership Through Trials". The presentation was based upon the struggles resulting from one of this country's most tragic firefighter LODD's. Although described by many as 'moving', 'unnerving' and 'I never want that to happen to me', Mr. Bowie crafted the topic in an undeniably beneficial approach that sent out lessons to all who heard it.
During our mid-day breaks through the week we heard valuable information about retirement planning on Monday and regional networking on Tuesday. Wednesday's mid-day session featured a skillfully presented topic dealing with underground facility damage prevention by TECO.
Monday afternoon's general session found Assistant Fire Chief Gary Jordon of the North Bay Fire Control District presenting the topic "Interpersonal Dynamics". A very ambitious topic for an afternoon as the topic's core is a two week course at NFA. Kudos Gary for that one! Gary was successful in representing a truth missed by so many and that is that there's more to this life safety stuff than simply reciting code sections. Following that program, a good number of attendees were well fed and educated at our annual bar-b-que banquet Monday at the Maitland Civic Center where we ate totally awesome pork and chicken, various side dishes and learned a great deal more about 'Red Tag-Green Tag' information presented by John Lake of Wiginton Fire Systems. Our many and most heartfelt thanks go to the Wiginton organization as they also covered the cost of that night.
Tuesday morning found attendees again being cared for in the vendor room by our various sponsors with a continental breakfast and the need to choose between the topics "Means of Egress - Why So Important" presented by myself or "Light Weight Wood Construction", by Bob James of Underwriters Labs. Whichever program attendees saw, there was much to be learned and taken home.
Tuesday afternoon gave conference attendees the choice between the topics dealing with adult living facilities presented by AHCA representatives, or a program presented by SFPE that helped us understand more about fire wall construction. Following those topics, then you had to choose between the programs by Kurt Bradley where he discussed grant strategies or flammable liquids and aerosol storage hazards.
Another sponsored break led us to the conclusion of Tuesday afternoon with a program topic "Calculating Fire Extinguishers and the Type Needed" by Toni Palermo of Simplex Grinnell. Competing for an audience during the same time period was FFMIA's longtime friend and F.P.E., Mr. Brian Foster of Global Engineering. Brian dove into the topic of "Plan Review and Acceptance Testing of Fire Pumps".
Tuesday's program was followed by an unannounced and very special opportunity that night, orchestrated by Steve Peavey and Leslie Chapman-Henderson, President and CEO of the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH), to visit the EPCOT property where attendees were treated to some unusual approaches to life and fire safety.
Wednesday's topics gave us invaluable information about crowd control by North Naples Fire Control and Rescue District Fire Marshal Dave Raub. Without a doubt, all who heard him learned a great deal. Next was Mary Sneed, City Attorney for the City Altamonte Springs. Ms. Sneed demonstrated her prowess as she spoke in depth about §162, code enforcement proceedings. Dovetailing the program presented earlier about fire stopping was Mr. Aaron Miller, of Hilti, Inc. Mr. Millers' two part program was an asset as well.
Due to an unforeseen circumstance, our next presenter Kari Hebrank could not be with us. In her place, Mr. Akers arranged for the topic "Discretionary Authority - What Does It Mean To You?". Many fine comments were heard about that topic and how appropriate was the presentation that followed - "Chapter 120 Rulemaking, DEC Statements" presented by Senior Attorney for the SFMO, Lesley Mendelson? Ms. Mendelson pointed out that many trees gave up their lives so she could print and provide the necessary information that would serve to help keep our members fully instructed in this area. Many thanks to Lesley for that.
Following the morning program and lunch period, we were again back in general session where representatives of the State Fire Marshal's Office brought us up to date on the many recent changes to the division. We were introduced to our new Director, Chief Julius Halas whose fire service background and credentials scream out to us that we will enjoy a continuum of progressive leadership. Chief Goodloe was again present as he has been for so many years now with updates on the various and critical issues facing our industry. The elevator key rule, the light truss and all the others; thank you Jim for that.
We were also introduced to our new Bureau Chief at the Bureau of Standards and Training, Chief Barry Baker. Chief Baker too has a long and varied fire service background originally from out of state, then Ormond Beach Fire Rescue and now reaching our entire state through training. Chief Baker has some very encouraging thoughts and ideas and as such, many of us have already experienced some changes he has implemented. Bring it on Chief Baker!
Wednesday night brought us to what so many find the most thrilling - the awards banquet, but more on that in a few moments.
Thursday morning, our final morning together, found NFPA's David Nuss, Manager for the Denver Region, talking about NFPA 101 Life Safety Code chapter 43 Building Rehabilitation. Mr. Nuss' skillful presentation helped us all understand the value of this new chapter in the '06 edition and how it will be of benefit to officials, owners and developers. It really helps quantify some of the questions and answers that were previously very difficult to assess. The practical exercises were amazing as well. Thank you David.
Now back to Wednesday night's banquet. The Sheraton Orlando North and its staff are such an amazing group of people. Being there now some four different times for various industry conferences, they've never let us down. They want us back too. As you approached the banquet theater, you couldn't help but notice all of the fellowshipping taking place, right? An amazing buzz of laughter, serious conversation and even some silliness was enjoyed by all as we waited for the doors to open. Once inside, the feed was on and indeed, what a meal! Many thanks to Simplex Grinnell for that.
Next came the program with the keynote address being offered by Mayor Douglas T. Kinson entitled, "Leadership in Government". Mayor Kinson invited all attendees to get involved in some capacity no matter what the odds. The keynote address was followed by the awards presentation with a very special award presentation that only a few select members knew of aforetime. Congratulations to award recipients Barbara Wyle, Public Educator of the Year; Kerry Barnett, Fire Marshal of the Year; Z.K. Roberts, Inspector of the Year and finally, John Farill, Investigator of the Year. What a pleasure to be recognized by your peers. Many thanks to our entertaining host for those awards as well, Chief Jeff Collins.
Now then, here's the really brief account of how the special surprise award came about.
Back in June of this year, certain members raised the issue about recognizing associates of FFMIA who were not full members, i.e. AHJ's. This is important because per our by-laws, they don't qualify for any of our 'of the year' awards. Understanding this small organizational faux paux, and knowing that if no one deserved recognition by FFMIA for hard work, certainly the Aker's did and so we set out to find a way to do just that. Well, we did.
We created the 'Chuck and Juanita Akers Award of Excellence'. How fitting that they should be the first recipients. How funny too it was for those of us who know Chuck so well, when Director Halas deviated from the program to introduce this award that neither he nor Juanita knew anything about. I knew from the look on his face he was stressed; after all he is Master of Ceremonies.
But anyway, suffice to say that much wrangling took place since June to pull this off without Chuck or Juanita finding out. So much thanks to the Executive Board for the attention to confidentiality and to all the 'Fellows' who weighed in also. Chuck and Juanita are truly the 'Gold Standard' of workers and they should be held out as such and for those that attempt to be so involved, the Akers are to be revered for their commitment to excellence; hence the recognition.
I only wish that as the Executive Board gave free reign to the 'Fellows' on this venture, that Russell, Olin or Robby could have made the presentation given their roots in the group. Chuck is the modern day worker that has kept alive what those three guys were involved with in the early days. They certainly could not have known what this group would become and there is no way they could have foreseen such fine representation and work as that provided by the Akers.
So to conclude this piece, let me say that there is yet much to do in the upcoming year. Many issues are likely to surface and perhaps what may become our legacy, one-and-two family fire sprinkler requirements. Looking forward to the tasks at hand, I hope to work with as many of you as possible this year and see even more of you all next year in Clearwater Beach as we endeavor to keep alive the "Pride, Professionalism and Passion".
Article provided by Bart Wright,
2009 Conference Committee
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Technically Speaking |
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Addressing Technical Code Issues from Basic to Advanced
In our previous article we covered the details involved in producing Design documents for a new fire alarm system with a value of over $5,000.00 as outlined in the Florida Building Code, 2007 Edition with 2009 Revisions, Florida Fire Prevention Code, 2007 Edition, Florida Administrative Code 61G15-33 and 61G15-32. Continuing with this subject, we will proceed with the details for the next step in the process.
Once the Building Permit has been issued, Working Drawings or Installation plans are produced and submitted for permitting by the sub-contractor, either a General Electrical Contractor (EC) or Fire Alarm Contractor (EF) licensed company.
The Florida Building Code provides in 907.1.1 Construction documents, "Construction documents for fire alarm systems shall be submitted for review and approval prior to system installation. Construction documents shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
1. A floor plan which indicates the use of all rooms.
2. Details for ceiling height and construction
3. Locations of alarm-initiating and notification appliances.
4. Alarm control and trouble signaling equipment.
5. Annunciation.
6. Power connection.
7. Battery calculations.
8. Conductor type and sizes.
9. Voltage drop calculations.
10. Manufacturers, model numbers and listing information for equipment, devices and materials.
11. Details of ceiling height and construction.
12. The interface of fire safety control functions."
The FFPC provides in section 13.7.1.1 of NFPA 1, "Where building fire alarm systems or automatic fire detectors are required by other sections of this Code, they shall be provided and installed in accordance with NFPA 70, NFPA 72, National Fire Alarm Code, and Section 13.7."
The National Fire Alarm Code, NFPA 72 provides guidance in section 4.5.1.1, "The authority having jurisdiction shall be notified prior to installation or alteration of equipment or wiring. At the authority having jurisdiction's request, complete information regarding the system or system alterations, including specifications, shop drawings, battery calculations, and notification appliance circuit voltage drop calculations shall be submitted for approval." Further details are found in Annex A, A.4.5.1.1:
Shop drawings for fire alarm systems are intended to provide basic information consistent with the objective of installing a fully operational, code compliant fire alarm system and to provide the basis for the record drawings required elsewhere in this Code.
Approval of shop drawings is not intended to imply waiver or modification of any requirements of this Code or any other applicable criteria.
Shop drawings should include, to an extent commensurate with the extent of the work being performed, floor plan drawings, riser diagrams (except for systems in single-story buildings), control panel wiring diagrams, point-to-point wiring diagrams, and typical wiring diagrams as described herein.
All shop drawings should be drawn on sheets of uniform size and should include the following information:
(1) Name of owner and occupant
(2) Location, including street address
(3) Device legend
(4) Date
Floor plan drawings should be drawn to an indicated scale and should include the following information:
(1) Floor identification
(2) Point of compass
(3) Graphic scale
(4) All walls and doors
(5) All partitions extending to within 0.5 m (18 in.) of the ceiling
(6) Room descriptions
(7) Fire alarm device/component locations
(8) Locations of fire alarm primary power connection(s)
(9) Locations of monitor/control interfaces to other systems
(10) Riser locations
Fire alarm system riser diagrams should include the following information:
(1) General arrangement of the system, in building cross-section
(2) Number of risers
(3) Type and number of circuits in each riser
(4) Type and number of fire alarm system components/devices on each circuit, on each floor or level
Control panel wiring diagrams should be provided for all control equipment (i.e., equipment listed as either a control unit or control unit accessory), power supplies, battery chargers, and annunciators and should include the following information:
(1) Identification of the control equipment depicted
(2) Location(s)
(3) All field wiring terminals and terminal identifications
(4) All circuits connected to field wiring terminals, and circuit identifications
(5) All indicators and manual controls, including the full text of all labels
(6) All field connections to supervising station signaling equipment, releasing equipment, and fire safety control interfaces
Typical wiring diagrams should be provided for all initiating devices, notification appliances, remote alarm light emitting diodes (LEDs), remote test stations, and end-of-line and power supervisory devices.
For specialized, site, environmental factors, smoke detection obstruction or stratification issues, zoned evacuation, or special wiring methods needed, it will probably be necessary to see the specific information that would have been reflected in the design documents as required by 61G15-32.008 (4) (h) - (n) and (5).
Again, the complexity of the working plans depends upon the complexity of the fire alarm system for a given facility.
Lastly, I would like to bring up one item that has been in contention for quite some time. The issue of local authorities requiring fire alarm working or installation plans be signed and sealed by a Florida Registered Engineer. For those working plans that are produced from an engineered design document, the signature, date and seal of an engineer is not required.
This is found in 61G15-30, Responsibility Rules Common to All Engineers, Florida Administrative Code. Specifically, 61G15-30.002 Definitions Common to All Engineer's Responsibility Rules. States in subsection (8) Shop Drawings: Drawings depicting installation means and methods, catalog information on standard products, prepared by a contractor, manufacturers, or professional engineers for incorporation into the project which are prepared based on engineering direction contained in Engineering Documents. Shop drawings do not require the signature, date and seal of a professional engineer. (Underlined for emphasis DRM)
In closing, to help insure a quality fire alarm design and installation it takes all of us, design professional, installation contractor, Building and Fire authorities working together.
Hope this helps
Article Provided By:
Dennis Marshall, CET, FCO, Fire Marshal
Maitland Fire Rescue Department
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