ADS Group services and certifies commercial fire detection and alarm systems across Kilkenny city and county to I.S. 3218, quarterly, with an annual certificate for the full system. Kilkenny's commercial core carries an unusually high proportion of protected and period structures, which changes how a compliant system gets installed without changing the standard it has to reach.
The building has to reach I.S. 3218 regardless of its age or its protected status. What changes is the method: wireless and hybrid detection avoids the cable runs and penetrations that period fabric cannot take. Where a previous installer has run surface trunking across a protected interior, that is both a conservation problem and usually a sign the rest of the install was improvised.
A hotel or bar with accommodation above has to wake sleeping guests and move a public crowd at the same time, with different strategies for each. Bedroom sound levels, the interface to any smoke control and the phased evacuation sequence all form part of the test rather than being inherited from the original commissioning.
Food and agri processing brings washdown, dust and temperature extremes that cause optical detectors to activate without a fire. Turning sensitivity down is how a system becomes unsafe. Changing the detector technology in that area is the correct fix, and it is a finding we put in writing.
Full detail on the system types, the standards and the certification process is on the Fire Detection & Alarms page, and everything else we cover in the county is on the Kilkenny page.
An engineer assesses the site, reviews the existing system and its documentation, and returns a written scope of works.
