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Fire Engineering Glossary

Technical terms spanning standards, manufacturers, commissioning, networking, testing and fault finding.

Technical guidance only. Confirm current project requirements against the applicable standards, legislation, system documentation and site-specific fire strategy.

Showing 6 of 6 matching glossary entries.

Fire detection

Cause and effect matrix

The site-specific document mapping every alarm input to its required outputs (sounders, dampers, doors, plant, signalling); the reference for commissioning and testing.

An unversioned or missing matrix is a defect worth reporting in its own right.

Fire detection

Commissioning

The systematic proving of a completed installation against the design: device tests, cause-and-effect verification, sound levels, battery calculations and documentation.

Fire detection

Double knock

Cause-and-effect logic requiring a second confirming trigger (same or second device) before a critical output such as plant shutdown or release operates.

Interfaces

Interface unit

A monitored input/output device connecting the fire system to other building systems — plant, dampers, lifts, security — under cause-and-effect control.

Fire detection

Optical smoke detector

A point detector sensing light scattered by smoke particles in its chamber; effective on smouldering fires, more prone to dust and steam nuisance alarms.

Fire detection

Phased evacuation

An evacuation strategy where areas evacuate in stages rather than simultaneously, driven by the cause-and-effect programme and voice alarm or staged signals.