Nuisance alarms: requirements in NFPA 72 and ongoing research

Richard Roberts of Honeywell Life Safety spoke about the requirements on nuisance alarms in NFPA 72 during the Research Foundation symposium in Orlando. Smoke alarms and detectors are designed to detect a fire in its early stage and alert people so they have time to escape. Home fire fatalities have decreased dramatically over the past few decades. And while that reduction cannot be solely attributed to the use of smoke detection devices, many researchers agree that they played a substantial role. According to Richard Roberts, Industry Affairs Manager for Honeywell Life Safety, nuisance alarms, most often caused by cooking, are...