Tech-News & Views

JUNE/JULY 2015

3...  2...  1...  LAUNCH!

Vancouver, British Columbia - Canadians celebrated Canada Day on July 1st.  Americans celebrated their country’s birthday on July 4th.  It’s an auspicious month to launch the Fire Protection Technicians Network’s newest initiative.  One of the three main pillars of our association is knowledge.  Our commitment to sharing knowledge hasn’t changed from when the website first launched in 2007. 

AHJ’s across the country have been looking for the means to identify individuals trained and proficient in the inspection and service of both passive and active building life safety systems.  Many knowledgeable people have committed time, resources and energy towards making this technology better, and many of those same individuals also recognize the shortcomings of the agencies called upon to service and test that technology.  If the people that develop the technology have difficulty in identifying qualified individuals, how much harder is it for a jurisdictional authority?  We can help!  We’ve launched two very different AHJ Courses.  One is directed at Building Officials (new construction), and the other at Fire Prevention Officers (existing buildings).  We’ve targeted a number of cities in British Columbia to start with.  In the Spring, we plan on taking the course across Canada!

The Verification Course is only the first of many new and exciting opportunities that will serve to bring a new level of professional practice excellence to the Canadian fire protection equipment service community:  the Certified Building Life Safety Systems Technologist (LSST).

Watch this space and our TRAINING page for more updates! 

We wish to take this opportunity to extend our sincere thanks to Potter Electric Signal Co., LLC for stepping up and sponsoring this initiative!

IT’S OFFICIALLY SUMMER!  AND SOME TECHNICIANS KEEP MISBEHAVING!

DISCLAIMER - This story involves the illegal testing of a life safety system by a national fire service company in one Lower Mainland (British Columbia) community (at least we hope it’s the only one).  While we have not revealed the actual identity of the company involved because of certain commitments we’ve made, we have elected to publish the report they filed in its entirety  because of the dangerous, irresponsible and fraudulent practices involved.  Building owners and operators, the engineering community, and jurisdictional authorities place a great deal of trust in the professional and ethical conduct of the service agency contracted to perform Code mandated testing of life safety equipment and systems.  Compromising any testing Standard is simply not an option and must not be tolerated!  If you’re a Building Official, please CONTACT US to receive a copy of the unedited report and details of the complaint we filed with ASTTBC.

New Westminster, British Columbia - June is  marked by the arrival of Summer (and Summer vacation).  In BC, we’ve been fortunate to have had Summer weather since February (the downside being that we’ve had to suck it up as well as our Canadian teams LOST the bid for Lord Stanley’s Cup - AGAIN!).

But the subject of this article is not a big silver cup or even the wonderful sport of Hockey.  It would more aptly be suited to a Burning Brick Award because it involves two equally BOGUS Verifications of a fire alarm system in one Lower Mainland community.  It remains our sincere and fervent hope that this article will serve as a warning to other jurisdictions across Canada to be on guard against these kinds of illegal practices.

Let’s set the stage for this horrific tale by giving you...  READ MORE!

PORT COQUITLAM IS PAINTING THE TOWN!

Port Coquitlam, British Columbia - The City of Port Coquitlam is recommending anyone that has a private fire hydrant located on their premises get it painted YELLOW (specifically Fire Hydrant Yellow) to differentiate between a City hydrant (RED), and a private hydrant.  The City’s current fire hydrant map will be updated to show these.  This will greatly assist everyone involved in the service of these units to identify who’s actually responsible for providing that service.

Here are the paint specifications:
Manufacturer:  Cloverdale Paint
Product Name:  Ecological DTM Acrylic Enamel
Colour Name:  Fire Hydrant Yellow
Paint Code:  020A0176-70402

Of course we wouldn’t in any way suggest you paint one to look like this (although it does make me wonder if Cloverdale Paint has a colour called Minion Yellow).

CHUBB-EDWARDS HEATS UP COMPETITION IN CALGARY - ACQUIRES FAHRENHEIT 451!

Calgary, Alberta - Chubb-Edwards has announced they’ve acquired Fahrenheit 451 (http://www.f451.ca), a premier fire safety and security provider in Calgary.  Randy Brown, Fahrenheit 451’s President and CEO also happens to head up the Alberta Fire Safety Association.  Randy will be staying on for a time to oversee the integration of the company with the Chubb-Edwards brand.  This is a significant acquisition for Chubb-Edwards as it positively leverages the unique vision of two well respected and deeply committed Canadian entrepreneurs, Randy and his wife, Mary.

You can read more about this in the official announcement from Chubb-Edwards!

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