# Fire alarm guy



## hancholo (Jun 19, 2016)

HI, 

I am a first year apprentice and i have been assigned to the fire alarm crew at my new site.I have noticed that a lot of electricians do not like to be put on fire alarm due to being stuck with that task at every job site once they get experience in fire alarm. I want to get as much knowledge and want to move up in the company once that time comes but also be a while rounded electrician my question is does anybody know why fire alarm is looked down upon and if i get NICET certified do you see that as a benefit as an electrician or would i be stuck as a fire alarm guy forever.. thanks


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## PlugsAndLights (Jan 19, 2016)

I'm not aware of any bias against FA. Back in my commercial days I wanted
to get more FA experience. Problem was I'd be on FA on one site then I might 
go a year or more before getting more experience on FA's. Hard to get a lot of 
confidence that way. I think certification took 3 courses, I took the 1st 2 but 
not the last, for the reasons above. 
Most of the guys I new who were certified let it expire. It expires every 5 yrs 
around here. Then you have to take the update course on your own time, or lose
it. 
So summing up; I like FA work and would have kept doing it if I could stay 
working at it and didn't have to take a couple months of courses every 5 
years. 
This is just my experience here in Ontario, may not apply to your situation.
P&L


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

It's nice stand up (48" and up) inside work that can be done in a relatively gentlemanly manner (no mud or shovels). I'd go for it and try to stick with it.


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## wildleg (Apr 12, 2009)

learning FA and getting and keeping the certs will be a feather in your cap, if not a career builder. lots of gravy, too, and what those guys said ^.


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## Bird dog (Oct 27, 2015)

I think the concern might be becoming a one trick pony. Make sure you either become a well rounded electrician or low voltage technician (fire, sound, security etc.) There are many areas in the electrical world. Keep your options open. Sooner or later you will have to make a decision whether your going to do commercial , residential, industrial etc.


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

wildleg said:


> learning FA and getting and keeping the certs will be a feather in your cap, if not a career builder. lots of gravy, too, and what those guys said ^.


An added bonus is that even in companies that have no overtime the alarm guys seem to get what becomes available.


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## derit (Jul 26, 2015)

There's probably no law requiring power and lights in some buildings, but there are regulations in my jurisdiction requiring sprinkler monitoring. It's a near evergreen area. 

And backflow preventers need digging to monitor for closed valves, so there's a chance for some glory gained in a spot of mud.


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## Lone Crapshooter (Nov 8, 2008)

When I was in the fire alarm business all we had was conventional systems and they were not wired like conventional power and control wiring. 
I have seen many a good electrician that could not understand how fire alarm circuits had to be wired.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO UNDERSTAND ABOUT FIRE ALARM WIRING IS THAT IF YOU ARE PUTTING MORE THAN 2 WIRES IN A WIRENUT OR 2 WIRES + A DEVISE WIRE IN A WIRENUT YOU ARE MAKING A MISTAKE. 

Now the devices have different pigtails and you have a better chance of getting the wiring correct.

It is not a bad skill to learn and it may keep you working a lot of times. 
Don't listen to all of the old guys complaints about doing fire alarm work.

Go on amazon and get the latest NJATC Fire Alarm Manual NOT THE STUDENT WORKBOOK I think it is 2008 but there may be one newer.
Each devise you install has paper work SAVE the paper work and make your own fire alarm manual.

I worked for a NOTIFIER and PYROTRONICS now SIEMENS distributor so I had access to a lot of information that the average electrician did not have.
As far as troubleshooting tools all we needed was a Triplett 310 VOM (analog meter) now you have to have a laptop. Things have changed.

LC


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## Vintage Sounds (Oct 23, 2009)

The guys who "don't like to be put on fire alarm crews" fall into two categories. The first are the guys who don't understand the systems and how they have to be wired, troubleshot and commissioned. You're not going to learn anything about FA from these guys because they don't have the finesse or the technical knowledge to get anywhere with it.

The second category are the guys who understand it very well, and have done a lot of it, so they develop a reputation. Yes, they can get put on the task again and again, which can get boring sometimes, but it happens for a reason - which is, FA is a life safety system. People can die if it doesn't work properly, and so you can't have just any monkey working on it. 

I've worked on a lot of FA systems starting when I was a second year. I lucked into it thanks to a shortage of journeymen, discovered I was pretty good at it, and ran with it. I managed to avoid a lot of crawling around in mud, snow, ice and pulling large heavy cables because I was busy doing FA while the other guys were breaking their backs. It's been very good to me, and I would highly recommend you take the opportunity to learn not just the installation side but later also the technical and regulation side. I'm working on getting certified.

As for the 'looking down' thing...it's a small wang compensation thing. F/A doesn't involve large manly 500 MCM wires or huge cable trays, but does involve a lot of thinking. So think of it like a high school jock vs nerd thing. In the end, the nerds are the ones who make the big bucks and the jocks are the ones schlepping coffee.


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## chrisfnl (Sep 13, 2010)

I did the Canadian fire alarm association distances courses over the last couple of years, filled in a *lot* of knowledge gaps I had as far as fire alarm systems go. 

They're not complicated, but they can be quite different than how you think about "conventional" wiring, whether it's a class a or class b system.


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## cabletie (Feb 12, 2011)

I have never heard of anybody getting looked down on for doing fire alarm. If anything you would get your balz busted about getting the easy work. 

Learn all you can. I doubt you will get roped into it for your whole apprentichip. If you did, I would not call it an apprenticeship. 

We do a lot of fire alarm that gets instaled in conduit because of the specs. So sometimes the job will be mostly MC cable except the fire alarm. So there is another reason to hate the fire alarm guys. 

Lone crapshooter mentioned an analog meter. It reminded me of a company that we used to sub off of when the jobs were to big for them. Their company policy was to only use analog meters. I guess they thought the digital meters gave too many false readings, and led to more troubleshooting mistakes. This was only ten years ago.


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## Wireking (Aug 1, 2017)

Fire Alarm Guy = ***.
Fire Alarm Guy in Training = ******. 
IBEW = I Block every walkway


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## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

I know this is an old thread, but if I was to do it all again I would get into FA systems waaay harder than I have. Way easier on your body through the years. Plus once you get certified it would be super easy to start your own business. Hell if you can swing one school district you could make a decent living.


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## Signal1 (Feb 10, 2016)

Wireking said:


> Fire Alarm Guy = ***.
> Fire Alarm Guy in Training = ******.
> IBEW = I Block every walkway


Great way to bump a year+ old thread and introduce yourself.

This ^^ is a major reason some guys badmouth fire alarm and controls or automation, because they don't understand it, and call others that do a ***.

As stated, being well rounded in the trade and keeping up a good skill set is crucial. 

I started at the bottom like everyone else, 30 years ago, but I applied myself, learned fire alarm, controls and traffic signals (all one in the same in many ways) and now I carry my laptop bag more than my tool bag, and I like it that way.

Yet I can still out snake most electricians (except Hack with his fancy chain thing)


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## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

Signal1 said:


> Great way to bump a year+ old thread and introduce yourself.
> 
> This ^^ is a major reason some guys badmouth fire alarm and controls or automation, because they don't understand it, and call others that do a ***.
> 
> ...


You act like *** is a bad word. some of my favorite posters are ****.....


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

sbrn33 said:


> I know this is an old thread, but if I was to do it all again I would get into FA systems waaay harder than I have. Way easier on your body through the years. Plus once you get certified it would be super easy to start your own business. *Hell if you can swing one school district you could make a decent living.*


It's a business of service contracts and not as lucrative as you'd think for one school district. 

As for being easier on your body that is completely accurate.


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

Welcome aboard @Wireking!

Wow way to walk in to a new forum and make yourself sound like an ass.

What exactly is your claim to fame in the electrical world?


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

Signal1 said:


> Great way to bump a year+ old thread and introduce yourself.
> 
> This ^^ is a major reason some guys badmouth fire alarm and controls or automation, *because they don't understand it, and call others that do a ***.
> *
> ...



Well stated!

:thumbup:


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## macmikeman (Jan 23, 2007)

I hope Wireking sticks around for a while.....


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

macmikeman said:


> I hope Wireking sticks around for a while.....


Why?


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