Cat-5 for fire system use

[George Stolz]

Can Cat-5 riser cable be used as an interconnect between a multifamily dwelling unit and the building that does the dialing?

My application is a sixplex that has a couple of tampers, a flow switch, and a pull station. Cat-5 is run through the building out to a point on the building close to the pedestal we dug for fire stuff.

We ran 1" PVC out to the pedestal, and then 1" PVC from the pedestal to the first building in the project that has the dialing panel.

Just wondering if there were listing issues or fire codes regarding Cat-5 used in this context. My theory is, if the wire fails, the alarms will go off, so I kinda doubt there's a problem with this installation from a safety standpoint.

 

[pierre]

Re: Cat-5 for fire system use

See 760.61(D) and the accompanying table.

 

[hbiss]

Re: Cat-5 for fire system use

Well, CAT5 is type CM so you should be able to use it but this gets ridiculous. CAT5 is not a universal cable- use the correct cable for the job.

-Hal

[ February 27, 2005, 01:12 PM: Message edited by: hbiss ]

 

[George Stolz]

Re: Cat-5 for fire system use

Ok, thanks.

 

[jrdsg]

Re: Cat-5 for fire system use

I confess I am not sure what the NEC says about this, but in Canada it would depend on what the "interconnect" was doing. We are not allowed to use anything smaller than 18ga. for fire alarm connections.

Our most common application is monitoring a fire alarm panel by tying the relay outputs [typically dry contacts for fire, fire trouble, and supervisory] to a DACT [digital dialer]. The digital dialer has several zone inputs that tie off to the main control panel. The interconnect is, then, just like any fire alarm zone and cannot be wired with less than 18ga wire. These are supervised connections with EOL resistors.

The DACT telephone connections themselves are typical telephone wire, 24ga. In this case there are always two telephone lines connected to the DACT.

Hope this helps.