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Fire alarm door control

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FireAlarmKid

Member
Location
Seattle, WA
Hello folks. First time on the forum. I hear this is the to be!

I have a customer that needs to add door control from the fire alarm. I'm wondering if it's possible/allowed to pull (t-tap?) Off a near by smoke damper signal so the door mag unlocks on alarm?

Thanks!!
 

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
Hello folks. First time on the forum. I hear this is the to be!

I have a customer that needs to add door control from the fire alarm. I'm wondering if it's possible/allowed to pull (t-tap?) Off a near by smoke damper signal so the door mag unlocks on alarm?

Thanks!!

In many areas working in door access controls requires a separate license, tread softly. If you design this, install it and it does not let people out when needed you are in a world of liability.
 

gadfly56

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Professional Engineer, Fire & Life Safety
First things first. What kind of door are you trying to control? There are two (2) basic types of doors the fire alarm system touches. The first is interior fire or fire/smoke doors that are intended to separate the interior of a building into separate fire zones. These are typically held open by a magnetic door holder and a fire alarm relay is wired normally closed in the electromagnet circuit. When the fire alarm control panel (FACP) detects a fire condition, the relays are opened and the doors, which should have automatic closing hardware on them, close. The second type of door is for access control, usually for exterior doors but possibly interior doors as well. They are normally part of a security system employing card access or combination keypad control. With very few, if any, exceptions they are required to be fail safe. The fire alarm control panel controls a relay at each door to disable the locking function. It is not allowed to do this by sending a signal to the door controller. The fire alarm must act directly on each door.
 
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