Assessment of the Current False Alarm Situation from Fire Detection Systems in New Zealand and the Development of an Expert System for their Identifications

Abstract

Abstract This report examines the current false alarm situation from fire detection systems in New Zealand by studying the fire calls provided by AFA Monitoring Ltd from July 1999 to June 2001. The process of the developing of an Expert System for prediction the likely causes of a false alarm is also described in this report.This report examines the current false alarm situation from fire detection systems in New Zealand by studying the fire calls provided by AFA Monitoring Ltd from July 1999 to June 2001. The process of the developing of an Expert System for prediction the likely causes of a false alarm is also described in this report. This study supports the hypothesis that human activities impose some impact on the occurrence of false alarms. It was also found that different building types had different reasons for their most likely cause of false alarm. For example in an industrial facility, the most likely cause for false alarm is Component Failure. The most likely cause of a false alarm varies with different types of detection systems, such as a smoke detection system is most likely to be activated falsely due to an Environmental Effect. An Expert System is an artificial intelligent program that can be used to assist end users make decisions. In this report, a program called Expert System Builder was used. The author combined the knowledge about false alarms in New Zealand, and applied it for developing a tool that can assist the site engineer to identify the cause of a false alarm.