Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Get Tested for Safety and Savings

A shift has been sneaking through the world with a chill in the air and shortened days with longer nights.  That’s right readers; the autumn season is finally here.  With that time of year comes great family celebrations with the cavity inducing Halloween, the long trips for family gatherings at Thanksgiving, and the gather round the fire holidays of Christmas and Hanukkah following shortly thereafter.  While these are all things we look forward to as we start to look at the end of the year, it should also be remembered that this is the time of year we hear more and more about keeping your family and your businesses safe.  For the team at ICS that all begins with fire system testing and maintenance.

Getting your residential or commercial fire system inspected annually isn't just a requirement of the local and national fire code it is also smart business sense.  This is a system that is installed in every commercial space as well as residential spaces like condominiums and apartment complexes to keep you and your family or employees safe.  While on the news we hear about first responders coming to the rescue, the fire detection and alarm system is the first response that your occupants will get to inform them that there is a problem and they need to get in motion to stay safe.  Without regular inspections and maintenance your system could have sensors that are no longer working correctly – and that can spell big expenses.  Setting aside the possible consequences if there were to be an incident where there was property damage or personal injury, including loss of life, if an inspector were to get word that there were issues with a system he could potentially shut the building down.  This would force any occupants of the residency or commercial space to vacate the premises until the system is proven to be operational.  This could yield fines for not having a functioning system, the cost of relocating any residents or lost business for commercial tenants, even reaching the point of having to pay a qualified individual to be on location 24 hours a day monitoring the building until the system returns to proper operation. 

By reaching out to your local fire systems integrator before these issues arise you can make sure that your system and devices are all working correctly and prevent any problems from increasing in severity down the road.  In addition to abiding by code and preventing any liability issues in the event of an emergency, there may also be a cost savings with your insurance carrier.  Some carriers work with their customers and discount the costs when the owner performs regular fire systems inspections, has a remotely monitored system, and maintains UL (Underwriters Laboratory) certification.  Please check with your insurance carrier to see what their policy might be as it could be annually, quarterly, or even monthly to get this savings.
ICS has a department specifically constructed to be available for fire system maintenance and testing.  If it’s been a while since your last system inspection, give us a call to arrange an appointment for a complimentary system inspection.  We can advise you on any functionality issues, improvements that might need to be made, or changes to the fire code that would require adjustments to the system.


You can reach the ICS fire alarm integration team at 408-491-6000 or at www.ics-integration.com

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