Maintaining Fire Protection and Meeting a Hard Deadline in an Occupied University Residence Hall

Summary

University of Nebraska–Lincoln needed a complete fire alarm system replacement in one of its residence halls, with a hard deadline driven by the building’s summer camp schedule. Midwest Alarm Services (MWAS) engineered the replacement and supplied a new NOTIFIER addressable fire alarm system with voice evacuation, collaborating with Turek Electric to execute the installation. Close coordination between the two scopes kept the building protected throughout construction and met the university’s July 31 completion date.

The Challenge: Replacing a Fire Alarm System in a Building That Never Closed

Three constraints shaped the project from the start, and none of them could give way to solve the others.

• Compressed Timeline: Work could only begin after the spring semester ended, with the entire replacement required to be complete by July 31.
• Continued Occupancy: The residence hall kept hosting summer camps and other activities throughout construction, so the building was never fully vacated during the project.
• Continuous Fire Protection: The existing Simplex fire alarm system had to be removed, and a new addressable system installed without leaving the building without fire protection at any point.

Any one of these alone would have been a normal replacement job. Together, they ruled out a standard shutdown-and-replace approach and forced a different plan.

The Solution: Coordinated Design, Equipment, and Installation

MWAS engineered and supplied the fire alarm system directly, collaborating with Turek Electric to execute the installation, with the two scopes coordinated throughout.

• Design and Equipment Scope: MWAS specified a full replacement of the building’s fire alarm field devices and notification equipment, including smoke detectors, heat detectors, duct smoke detectors, sprinkler monitoring devices, control relays, notification appliances, and the fire alarm control panel itself, and supplied the NOTIFIER addressable system to match.
• Code-Driven Additions: Replacing the control panel meant the new system had to meet current code requirements, which included specifying low-frequency sounders for every sleeping room. The added notification appliances increased power demand across the system, requiring additional NAC power supplies to support the expanded load.
• Installation Coordination: MWAS collaborated with Turek Electric to execute the installation. Close coordination between MWAS’s design and equipment scope and the installation schedule kept the project on track for the university’s July 31 deadline.
• System Layout: The new NOTIFIER equipment is housed in three four-foot cabinets in the building’s fire control room, containing the fire alarm control panel, digital voice command equipment, SLC loop cards, amplifiers, and power supplies.

That coordination between MWAS’s scope and the installation crew’s schedule, as much as the equipment itself, is what kept the building protected while the new system went in around an active occupancy.

The Results

The completed system met every constraint the project started with, without a gap in protection at any point.

• Fire Protection Maintained Throughout Construction: The building remained protected at every stage of the replacement, despite continued occupancy.
• Code-Compliant System Delivered: The new NOTIFIER system meets current fire alarm code, including low-frequency sounders in every sleeping room.
• On-Schedule Completion: The project was completed by the university’s July 31 deadline, despite the building staying in active use.
• Modernized Voice Evacuation Capability: Students, staff, and visitors are now served by a new NOTIFIER addressable fire alarm and voice evacuation system.

The replacement met University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s code requirements and its July 31 deadline in a building that never stopped being occupied, the standard MWAS works to on every deadline-driven project in an active facility.