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Things You Need To Know About The 2022 Edition Of NFPA 72
It’s been three years since the National
Fire Protection Association (NFPA) published the most recent edition of the
wide-ranging standard that spans “the application, installation, location, performance,
inspection, testing and maintenance of fire alarm systems, fire warning
equipment, and emergency warning equipment and their components.”
2022 Update
A 2022 edition was officially published in September 2021, after
thousands of hours of collaboration, review, and debate among a technical
committee. The 2022 update is a significant one; there are hundreds of changes
in the document, ranging from minor edits of terminology to major items like
Cybersecurity. Whether you’re an architect, engineer, contractor, or building
owner/manager, NFPA 72 matters.
It will have an impact on how you design, test, install and maintain
life safety systems in the future. So even if your jurisdiction will not
immediately adopt the 2022 edition of NFPA 72, it’s important to know what’s in
the pipeline. Understanding the new edition will enable you to plan for the
future and gain insight into how technologies like remote access are changing
life safety and building systems.
Here are four things you need to know about the 2022 edition of NFPA 72:
1) Secondary Power Supply
Requirements For Batteries Have Changed
Fire alarm control units typically rely on
their local power grid as a primary power supply
Batteries play a significant role in ensuring fire alarm system reliability
but are one of the most overlooked items. Fire alarm control units typically
rely on their local power grid as a primary power supply, and when that grid is
operational, all is fine.
However, should that power failure due to weather interference or
technical failure and brownout conditions occur, the secondary power supply
comes into play?
Capacity
NFPA 72 states that the secondary power supply (typically batteries) for
the protected premises system shall have sufficient capacity to operate the
system under quiescent load (system operating in a nonalarm condition) for a
minimum of 24 hours.
At the end of the 24-hour, the secondary power supply must be capable of
operating all alarm notification appliances used for evacuation or to direct
aid to the location of an emergency for five minutes. If the system
incorporates in-building fire emergency voice/alarm communications, then the
system needs to operate for 15 minutes.
Charging
system
Batteries need to be able to take a charge from the charging system
within the fire alarm control unit. Batteries have a life expectancy and also
need to be load tested at least annually.
But not all batteries are created equal. So much so that NFPA 72 has
decided to raise the bar and impose a new requirement for the batteries used in
fire alarm control units.
Listing
standards
Examples of listing standards are UL 1989, Standby Batteries, and UL
2054, Household and Commercial Batteries.
NFPA 72 states that effective January 1, 2024, rechargeable batteries
for the secondary power supply used in control units, devices, and accessories
shall be listed or component-recognized by a nationally recognized testing
laboratory.
The action was taken because of the acknowledged new dangers posed by
today’s battery technologies, primarily due to increased energy densities.
Examples of listing standards are UL 1989, Standby Batteries, and UL 2054,
Household and Commercial Batteries.
2) Fire Alarm Control Units Powered
By The Internet Of Things Require New Cybersecurity Measures
Should you be concerned about cybersecurity in a fire alarm control
unit? It depends on how it was installed and connected. Many fire alarm systems
do not require cybersecurity as they typically use their wiring and
infrastructure and do not connect to “outside” equipment.
For example, smoke detectors connected to the fire alarm control unit
with wires only used for the fire alarm system, meaning there are no attack
vectors that could be exploited. However, this is rapidly changing.
Cybersecurity standards
With fire alarm systems able to connect to the internet, allowing a user
to see the status of their system on an app and even perform remote service
diagnostics, these cloud-based integrations require new cybersecurity measures.
Underwaters Laboratories, UL, has created a suite of cybersecurity
standards. For example, The UL 2900 series of documents covering cybersecurity
encompass healthcare, industrial and life safety signaling systems. Now
manufacturers can produce fire alarm control units listed to these standards
and “build-in” cybersecurity measures.
Patches
But cybersecurity protection doesn’t stop once a piece of equipment
leaves the factory. Bad actors are constantly on the prowl for vulnerabilities
and patches need to be sent periodically to fix any such avenues for attack.
Just like our computers, mobile devices, etc. all routinely receive
updates to help to prevent unwanted attacks, fire alarm systems are no
different. How these patches will get delivered and tested is different.
Fire alarms
Fire alarms need to function all of the time, they cannot go down unless
service personnel or Firewatch people are on site. When patches are
implemented, we need to ensure the system still functions properly, has come
back online properly, and has not been compromised.
Fire alarms, unlike our computers, cannot be rebooted over and over
trying to fix them when a patch does not function properly. Nor do we have the
luxury to replace a fire alarm CPU as quickly as a laptop.
Guidelines for cybersecurity
To address all of this, NFPA 72 has created a new chapter for 2022,
Chapter 11 entitled “Cybersecurity.” The chapter is a placeholder for the
technical committees to work on for the 2025 edition. But it does offer a
glimpse into things to come and provides some guidance for today.
Along with the chapter addition, there is a new Annex J entitled
“Guidelines for Cybersecurity.” There is a wealth of information on how
cybersecurity measures can be improved for fire alarm and signaling solutions
within the new annex.
3) Remote Access For Fire Alarm
Control Units Requires New Capabilities
Now that
systems are being connected for users to see the status of their systems and
remote diagnostics have become the norm, NFPA and UL have had to make changes
to the allowance and proper usage of these features. UL 864 the Standard for
Control Units and Accessories for Fire Alarm Systems has recently added testing
protocols for remote access for fire alarm systems.
NFPA 72
has also added guidance for how to properly implement remote access. Like
cybersecurity, we do not want to allow bad actors to possibly use the fire
alarm system to access larger digital infrastructure and do harm.
Benefits
The
benefit of having properly listed equipment and processes for remote access is
the door is now open even wider for remote testing, programming, and other
applications. Some of the additions to NFPA 72 are that remote access shall not
affect the operation or response of the fire alarm or signaling systems.
Remote
access can now allow for the first time the ability to test and perform
maintenance activities, including the resetting, silencing, or operation of
emergency control functions.
Remote access
There are
additional requirements such as the system needing a means to manually
terminate the remote access connection at the remote device and the fire alarm
or signaling system control unit at any time.
Further,
remote access needs to automatically terminate within a maximum of one hour of
inactivity in the remote access mode. Also, the resetting, silencing, or
operation of emergency control functions shall be limited to a portion(s) of
the system taken out of service and must be enabled by a qualified person
onsite by password or limited access.
4) Fire Alarm Systems Must Meet New
MNS Standards
The 2007 edition of the NFPA 72 added annex
materials to guide allowing a fire alarm system to be used
The role of communication in fire systems has been
evolving for years, and NFPA 72 has been evolving with it. The 2007 edition of
the NFPA 72 added annex materials to guide allowing a fire alarm system to be
used or connected to a Mass Notification System (MNS).
In the 2010 edition, this was taken a step further
with the creation of Chapter 24, Emergency Communications Systems (ECS).
UL 2572 Standard
At that time there were no listing standards for
MNS or ECS, but that was about to change. UL created a new Standard in 2016, UL
2572 Standard for Mass Notification Systems. This new Standard allows for
equipment to become certified to be used for MNS or ECS applications.
Since the Standard has been released many
manufacturers have been able to obtain this certification for their respective
systems. Starting with the 2022 edition of NFPA 72, control units installed as
part of an MNS must be listed by applicable standards such as UL 2572, and Mass
Notification Systems.
