C-TEC's FastConvert, a conventional-to-addressable zone converter, has been used to upgrade the life safety system at North Road Academy, an Islamic primary school in Stoke-on-Trent, without the cost and disruption of a full replacement.
The school had initially considered replacing its fire system outright. Following a site survey, electrical specialist W R Fire & Security identified another route: keep the existing conventional wiring and convert it into an addressable system using FastConvert.
Three alternatives weighed before conversion
Before selecting FastConvert, the installer assessed three other upgrade options, each with its own drawback:
- A new conventional panel would have allowed the zones to be separated and additional zones created, but required extra cabling and would still have 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, as it would have added an estimated £10,000 in materials and additional labour, along with greater disruption and a longer installation timescale.
- Converting the remaining six zones into loops would have added around a week of work for two engineers, plus additional cabling, materials and disruption, at an estimated extra cost of £3,000 to £4,000.
FastConvert was the only option that avoided all three drawbacks at once, reusing the existing wiring to deliver a genuine loop-based addressable system without the extra cost, labour or disruption. On that basis it was chosen for the school.
What the upgrade delivered
By using the legacy system's wiring, FastConvert converted the conventional installation into an open-protocol CAST addressable system. The resulting system supports lockdown alert functionality and internet connectivity, and can accommodate C-TEC's award-winning CAST-PRO combined fire detection and alarm devices, which the manufacturer describes as false-alarm resistant. To achieve this, two radials were combined into a single loop, with a dedicated two-loop panel installed for FastConvert.
Installer's assessment
Wayne Riley, managing director of W R Fire & Security, said the company was very impressed with FastConvert and described it as extremely innovative in terms of what it can do. He contrasted it with a full re-wire, which he said would have added around £10,000 to the job, or converting the remaining zones into loops, which he said would have cost an extra £3,000 to £4,000 plus a week's extra labour for two engineers. FastConvert, he said, was the clear winner, reducing installation time, site disruption and labour costs, and saving approximately £3,500 on the project.
Riley also welcomed the CAST-PRO devices, which he said the company considers superior to other manufacturers' products because the sounder/VADs and multi-sensors are built into the heads, so separate sounder bases are not needed.