The Code Committee Insider: Fire Alarms, CO Detection & What’s Coming Next

Dr. Roger Reiswig, Industry Liaison at Johnson Controls, joins Drew for a conversation spanning nearly 40 years of fire alarm industry experience. Roger started as a Simplex technician in 1986 and now represents JCI across NFPA, UL, FM, and international organizations including the European Alarm Association (Uralarm).

Topics include how countries outside the US often adopt NFPA codes faster than US states, the differences between European EN standards and NFPA/UL requirements, Europe's mandatory smoke detector replacement cycles, the new 40-foot ceiling allowance for smoke detectors in NFPA 72, remote and automated inspection technology and its UL listing challenges, how UL and NFPA standards push each other forward, the birth of NFPA 3 and NFPA 4 for integrated testing (now showing up in building codes), Canada's ULC certification model, and the history of carbon monoxide detection moving from NFPA 720 into NFPA 72.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Cold open
0:27 - Episode intro
1:36 - Drew and Roger connect
2:14 - Global adoption of NFPA codes
3:39 - How aggressively other countries adopt new editions
5:03 - Why US states are slow to adopt
7:51 - Roger's career: Simplex technician to JCI liaison
10:15 - European standards (EN) vs NFPA
11:39 - Europe's smoke detector replacement requirements
14:15 - Smoke detector placement at 40-foot ceilings
17:08 - Remote and automated inspection technology
20:34 - UL listing challenges for remote testing
23:45 - Mass notification: UL 864 to UL 2572
24:34 - The 2010 NFPA 72 scope change
26:00 - NFPA 3 and NFPA 4 for integrated testing
29:49 - Canada's ULC standards vs US
32:13 - Carbon monoxide detection in NFPA 72
36:52 - How CO detectors are tested
39:11 - Wrap-up

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