In the United States, the primary international Life Safety Standard is the Life Safety Code, published by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and is known as NFPA 101. NFPA 101 is revised every three years. Despite its title, the document is a standard and not legal code. Its statutory authority is derived from local Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJ), typically the local Fire Department. The language of the NFPA 101 is crafted in a form that makes it suitable for mandatory application and is adopted into law by local authorities.

The second applicable document is the International Building Code (IBC; formerly known as the Universal Building Code, UBC). In other countries a set of model building codes is used, which are often very similar to the IBC. Again, like the NFPA 101 Life Safety Code these are standards, not law. In all countries, local authorities are recommended to reference the relevant standards as a mandatory reference to follow when designing buildings.

Building Codes such as the IBC include instructions beyond issues of life safety, including information about structural safety and resistance to natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods; however, life safety is at the heart of all building codes. Key life-safety references in the IBC include allowable sizes and placements for exit doors; lengths and widths of hallways; allowable construction materials; use of fire stop compounds in wall penetrations to prevent the spread of fire from one space to another through those penetrations; minimum and maximum room sizes for various types of occupancies; storage requirements for flammables, hazardous materials, and the like; and requirements regarding exiting requirements.

The third relevant standard is NFPA 72, which was also developed by the National Fire Protection Association. NFPA 72 applies to “the application, installation, location, performance, inspection, testing, and maintenance of Fire Alarm Systems, fire warning equipment, and emergency warning equipment, and their components.” Like NFPA 101, local AHJs all across the country refer to NFPA 72 as mandatory law.

NFPA 101, NFPA 72, and the IBC are all referred to by Fire Authorities and litigating attorneys and insurance companies, so the code is often referenced for legal action and to defend against insurance claims. NFPA 101, NFPA 72, and the IBC can all be amended by local authorities, so it is important to know not only these standards, but also the local deviations, additions, and modifications to them. Failure to know can be expensive.

I was once called by a Building Manager of a 30-story building downtown in a large Northern California city. He was in a panic. I had designed the security system for the original building and had recently designed a renovation of the access control system to include locks on all stairwell doors, using a lock type and locking scheme that was approved by the city. We had discussed the matter with the San Francisco Fire Department, submitted plans, and received approval. The Building Manager told me that the local Fire Department Inspector was instructing him to shut down his building immediately. I asked him to put the Fire Inspector on the phone. I asked the Inspector tell me what the problem was. He explained to me that the security contractor, who the Building Manager had selected against my advice (a relatively new contractor who put in an extraordinarily low bid), had substituted electric strikes instead of approved fire stairwell locks and was halfway up the building installing these locks. The contractor had begun work without submitting the hardware for the Consultant's approval. The net result was that the new security contractor, who was very happy about winning his first big job, had cut holes into all of the fire stairwell door frames to make way for the door strikes and in so doing had violated the fire rating of all of those frames (16 floors, 32 doors). This caused the building to be out of compliance with its certificate of occupancy, so the certificate of occupancy was no longer valid. The building had to be closed until the door frames were returned to code compliant condition. I asked him if he would accept a “fire watch” until the repairs were made. He said he would waive the ruling if a fire watch was put into place. “Thanks, I said. Put the Building Manager back on please.”

I explained the situation to the Building Manager and explained that a “fire watch” is a 24/7 guard on every floor whose job it is to watch for fires and evacuate the building if one occurs. Sixteen floors, 16 guards — it will not be cheap. But it will certainly be better than informing all of his tenants that they have to leave the building immediately! He sighed. I gave him the number of a major guard company in his city. He called, they came, the Fire Inspector left.

The security contractor who was so happy about winning his first big job and who was at first elated and proud that he had “found a way around the requirement for that damned security consultant's very expensive locks” also left. The Building Manager hired another major security contractor to replace all of the destroyed door frames (at a very significant cost) and the first security contractor was billed for the work and the cost of the 24/7 “fire watch” guards. He filed bankruptcy. It pays to understand Fire Code.

I have talked to many security contractors and consultants whose knowledge of NFPA 101, NFPA 72, and the IBC amount to what they learned from “some seminar I took,” or “some article or book summary I read.” From the pinnacles of their modest knowledge, these people often say “I know all I need to know.” They don't. Let me say this clearly. If you are going to make a career in the security industry, you need to buy a copy of NFPA 101, NFPA 72, and the IBC. I have talked to security designers and contractors who say: “I don't need to know what is in the IBC because it is the architect's job to design the building, not mine.” But sometime in your career, you will be brought into a small project that involves a minor change in the floor plan that seems like a good idea to the owner who will have hired some unlicensed contractor to make the change and then ask you to design or install access control equipment on the new area. That is a bad idea. You can get sued for designing or installing equipment on non-code compliant structures when there is a fire and the people inside cannot escape. You may have skipped the Electrified Panic Hardware because the owner wanted “cheaper locks.” You may find out too late that your work is not in compliance with Fire Life-Safety codes. You can pay dearly for what you do not know, and many security designers and contractors have. Buy a copy of each. You will be glad you did.

Underwriters Laboratories (UL) is an organization that has been in operation for more than a century. It is an independent, non-profit organization that writes standards and tests products against those standards to provide an assurance to the marketplace that a given product meets stringent manufacturing and safety standards (UL Standards). UL 294 is the standard for Access Control Systems. It applies to “… the construction, performance and operation of the systems intended to regulate or control entry into a protected area or a restricted area or access to or the use of a device(s) by electrical, electronic or mechanical means.”¹

Manufacturers submit their access control systems to UL for certification under UL 294 to comply with building codes that require systems to be UL certified. Additionally, most specifiers require UL certification on all of the electronic and electrical equipment submitted for installation under their specifications.

UL 204 covers product assembly, electrical protection, and protection of service personnel, how the enclosure is manufactured, electrical shock protection, corrosion protection, field wiring and grounding connections, internal wiring, electrical components, and performance on many parameters. Additionally, UL 294 requires manufacturing and production line tests, designated markings, outdoor use performance standards, and standards on accessory equipment.

In addition to UL 294, similar Standards exist for Europe (the CE Mark) and Canada. The Canadian Standards Association (CSA) is the equivalent of UL in Canada. The CE Mark is the equivalent of UL in the European market. Its mark is required for products to pass freely between European Union States. Another mark is the ETL Mark. ETL Testing Laboratories is another nationally recognized testing laboratory that is required in certain jurisdictions, notably in New York City. ETL is also recognized by the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA).

It is not necessary for designers and contractors to fully understand UL 294 (or its CE/CSA/ETL equivalents) to succeed in the industry. But I think it is foolish of anyone serving the security industry to specify or allow installation of any non-certified equipment when certified equipment is available.