Digitized fire alarm inspection system connects 260 University of North Carolina buildings

As one of the oldest public universities, the UNC-CH campus has several historic buildings located around their campus, as well as many others that vary in age, size, and geographic area. Recently, they were informed that their alarm monitoring communication network would no longer be supported by their telephone service provider. The lack of this communication network support in an emergency could result in fire and smoke system notification delays to the Department of Public Safety command center and the appropriate emergency services. 

As a result, GHD’s Building Services and GHD Digital’s Location Intelligence teams were engaged in inspecting approximately 260 campus buildings, including five Bio-Safety Level Three (BSL-3) Laboratories, to collect information needed to design a new active network radio signalling system based on radio transceivers that replace telephone lines to transmit mission-critical alarm signals. This was the first “radio-mesh” system of this type installed in the 17 campuses within the UNC-CH public university system. By modernizing existing building fire alarm system infrastructure through a reliable digital process, UNC-CH could maintain alarm system effectiveness across the large and complex campus.

Working collaboratively with GHD’s Fire and Life Safety team, GHD Digital developed a digital field data collection form using Survey123 and ArcGIS Collector, which connected to GHD’s ArcGIS enterprise portal, GHD Atlas. This approach provided an application framework from which project-specific forms and maps can be developed.

First, using Survey123, we created a simple form that enabled field users to select buildings and review the asset information on the building’s records. This meant that a field user could confirm details, record photos and notes related to the system to be installed and update them as needed in real-time. Georeferenced floor plans also allowed users to navigate the buildings and record proposed installation locations in a digital format using ArcGIS Collector. This digital survey tool allowed for more accurate information from on-site inspections to be entered efficiently.

From there, we transferred building information instantaneously to our geospatial management system within GHD Atlas. With the added benefit of Survey123 and ArcGIS Collector connecting directly to GHD Atlas, we synced all collected data in real time throughout the day as inspections were completed. Connecting to GHD Atlas also meant our teams did not have to sift through various paper field maps, reducing the overall time required to provide system design drawings.

Finally, we developed a web-based map application that highlighted buildings where the field team identified issues, which the project manager could then correct directly with the client. This meant the project manager could keep up with progress compared to the proposed schedule and coordinate with facility staff to ensure teams could access any identified buildings.

Throughout the entire process, we georeferenced over 1,500 floorplans and distributed the ArcGIS Collector application to field teams. These digital floorplans illustrated the locations of the fire alarm control panel, power source, and future antenna locations, which are vital to mitigate potential fire risk. Each floorplan was then converted into a feature service, where it was overlayed on aerial images of the building in ArcGIS Collector, creating digital layers that could be turned on as needed to navigate and record proposed locations of improvements. Traditionally, field teams would have to print, carry, and sort through 1,500 sheets of paper individually.

Through our digital solutions and the collected data, GHD’s design team developed installation schematics and system requirements, which were provided to the equipment installation contractors to make improvements across the campus.

Additionally, because of the digital tools applied for this upgrade, we provided a consolidated source of information to reference (i.e., existing system details and digital floorplans), which eliminated the need to transcribe or digitize paper field notes. As a result, we completed field work ahead of schedule and improved overall operational efficiency. Since we completed this project during the COVID-19 pandemic, these efficiencies were vital to view field team progress from any location in real-time and adjust schedules accordingly, limiting the contact they had with facilities staff and people on campus.

Traditionally, this process is very labor intensive and requires a project-specific paper field form needing to be filled out for each inspected building. Next, all existing system details and floor plans would need to be printed to be used as a reference. And finally, all of these details would then need to be transcribed into digital tables and a marked-up floor plan would need to be digitized through their computer-aided design drawings (CADD).

Now, the manual process was removed completely. The UNC-CH can update, measure, and quickly view the status of all buildings’ safety and monitor activity in a central location through the installation of innovative radio frequency communication and alarm systems.

“Once the project moved into the design phase, having the information available in GHD Atlas eliminated the need to transcribe paper field notes or interpret marked-up paper floorplans, allowing the updating of CADD drawings to be completed more efficiently for our client,” said Matthew Batbouta, Associate Principal, Fire Protection Engineering & Life Safety, GHD.