North Road Academy, an Islamic primary school in Stoke-on-Trent, has upgraded its fire system using C-TEC's FastConvert conventional-to-addressable zone converter. The school had initially considered a complete replacement, but a site survey by specialist electrical contractor W R Fire & Security found that the existing conventional installation could be converted instead.
Three upgrade routes assessed
Before choosing FastConvert, the project assessed three alternative approaches. A new conventional panel would have allowed the zones to be separated and additional zones created, but it would have required extra cabling and left the school with a conventional system able to report only zonal fire and fault information. A full re-cable was ruled out on budget grounds: it was estimated to add £10,000 in materials and labour, cause far greater disruption and extend the installation timetable.
The third option, converting the remaining six zones into loops, would have added about a week to the installation for two engineers, plus additional cabling, materials and disruption. That route was estimated to cost an extra £3,000 to £4,000.
FastConvert was selected because it avoided all three drawbacks at once. It reused the existing wiring, provided a genuine loop-based addressable system rather than a conventional one, and avoided the extra cost, labour and disruption associated with the alternatives. That combination made it the preferred route for the school.
System capabilities
By using the old system's wiring, FastConvert upgraded the school's legacy conventional system into an open-protocol CAST addressable system. The resulting system is capable of lockdown alert functionality and internet connectivity, and can accommodate C-TEC's CAST-PRO combined fire detection and alarm devices, which the company describes as false-alarm resistant. Two radials were combined into a single loop, with a dedicated two-loop panel installed for FastConvert.
Installer reports time and cost savings
Wayne Riley, managing director of W R Fire & Security, said the company was impressed by what FastConvert could do. He said that, compared with a full rewire that would have added about £10,000, or converting the remaining zones into loops at an extra £3,000 to £4,000 plus a week's additional labour for two engineers, FastConvert was the clear winner. According to Riley, it greatly reduced installation time, site disruption and labour costs, and saved approximately £3,500 on the project.
Riley also said the new CAST-PRO devices were superior to other manufacturers' products because the sounder/VADs and multi-sensors are built into the heads, so separate sounder bases are not needed.
The project therefore centred on reusing the existing cabling and adding addressable capabilities, rather than replacing the school's fire-system infrastructure. The approach kept the existing cabling in service while introducing loop-based addressability and the panel architecture needed for the new devices.