atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Wiring - Telecom Carriers - Trunks & Services Security, Alarms and Paging using the same two phone lines to feed two fire alarm panels

I have a customer who owns a bldg that has been subdivided , currently there are two fire alarm panels

one panel feeds two units the other feeds two more units

can I run the same lines through a rj31x to panel one , then out and through panel two then out to phone / fax etc ?

I've suggested he get a fire alarm guy in to see if the two panels can be consolidated but if thats not practical ,hes trying to save money and reduce lines .

he has three lines he normally uses , the the tenants are using cell phones and vonage besides I really think he needs to control the lines going to the alarms

Sharing telephone lines is not a good idea because both systems need to be able to seize the line in the event of an alarm. And it is not up to standards as far as fire codes go either.

In this case line seizure means the line is killed to everything except the fire alarm while it is reporting to the monitoring center.

You are on the right track as far as integrating the two systems if the systems can be integrated. That way only one of the systems will need to be monitored.

Also, he really needs two lines going to the monitored system.

problem solved , for now

one panel had no dial tone as the lines had been turned off (there was still talk battery so the system didn't go into trouble )

I found two lines I was able to run to the panel to give it its own dial tone . the Fire alarm guy was there this morning and he can combine the two panels by expanding one of them so that will be the long term solution

if the bldg catch s fire this weekend both panels have dial tone to call out on

:thumb:

"hes trying to save money"

When it comes to fire alarms, this is 100% of the time what I get. Can't put a price on life safety, huh?

Looks like you found a solution. But ultimately when you're dealing with fire alarm related questions it all comes down to the AHJ (Authority Having Jurisdiction). Also known as the local fire marshal. And his decision could be different day by day. He might want two different lines for each panel one day that are dedicated, and the next day be ok with two lines total that can be shared with another tenant. That's the fun of fire alarm work. Good luck!

I have never understood some Fire Marshals enforceing the dedicated alarm line. The alarm and fire systems are designed from factory to have input side and return side[lines]. If properly installed[BIG IF]they get lines first ,so whats the problem.On the newest systems alarm techs ask us for network access plus the lines which make it easier for them to check or upgrade.-----------John

Well, its my understanding that fire alarm panels will need 2 lines anyway. Im not a alarm guy, but recently cut over telco services at a school and noticed they had 2 dedicated lines to the fire panel. When i investigated further, i was told the fire alarm does indeed need 2 lines. However, only primary needs to be dedicated, where as the secondary was placed on to 31x to share with a system line. This could also be the case for "schools" and not necessarily a commercial business.

Yep, there needs to be two lines going to the panel as you say.
The part about being dedicated or not depends entirely upon where the system is and who's in the position of authority as has been mentioned.

It may not be right but that's the way it always is... one Fire Chief will read the same code completely differently from another. Kind of like lawyers and judges I suppose.