Abstract

Fire alarm systems are an important part of the safety concept in complex buildings. For this reason, there are high availability requirements for the systems, which must be sustained by a maintenance concept. A shortage of skilled workers and rising costs in the construction and operation of buildings are pushing these concepts ever further. This study deals with proposed changes to the maintenance strategies to achieve cost and time savings in addition to an improvement in quality. As a first part of the work, the current state of research on developments in fire alarm systems and their maintenance and inspection concepts is analyzed within a literature review. The results serve as a basis for further research, which is based on a qualitative content analysis of expert interviews and standardized surveys to identify the weaknesses in current inspection strategies and future factors influencing the methods and technology of inspections through technical innovations. As a data basis for this study, expert interviews were conducted with experts from manufacturers, industry associations, and standards bodies in order to determine the possible influencing factors. To determine their relevance for the inspection, more than 40 experts were surveyed about testing the systems. The presented results show that new technical risks, such as cyber threats and networked plant structures, are insufficiently covered by current inspection strategies. Furthermore, inspection steps can be substituted by new technologies. The most important influencing factors that can be identified here are automatic self-test functions of components and remote inspection techniques of the systems. Finally, the results are discussed within the framework of a PESTEL analysis. In conclusion, it can be stated that the integration of identified impacts in future inspection strategies brings time and efficiency benefits in the operation of systems.

Full Text
Paper version not known

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.