Ensuring the Safety of the European Central Bank
The European Central Bank (ECB) headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany has become the latest high profile customer to invest in the innovative new wireless fire alarm: WES+ from Nottingham-based Ramtech Electronics.
A major German construction company chose WES+ to protect staff and physical assets from fire during the refurbishment of 30 floors of the 40-storey building. Specifiers at the firm were impressed that WES+ is the only wireless fire alarm with European EN54 system approval, which has been independently certified by international testing house Intertek.
The Challenge of safeguarding the European Central Bank
As a closed system, WES+ didn’t interfere with the bank’s existing wireless technologies. This is an essential requirement for the European Central Bank, which houses a number of business-critical technologies. Fire safety was critical on the European Central Bank project as only 30 floors of the 40-storey building are undergoing refurbishment.
WES+ sets a new fire safety benchmark for construction, refurbishment or demolition projects across Europe, most of which rely on very basic evacuation procedures. The European Central Bank was looking for a more efficient, technology-based solution that would automatically detect a fire 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which is exactly what WES+ does.
Ramtech’s Solution
Despite being a large and complex project, Ramtech’s wireless technology made it straightforward to specify and install the 500 WES+ automatic fire detection and manual call point units, which were divided into 30 zones. In the event of fire, the building would be evacuated in phases as appropriate to the fire plan. WES+ allows an unlimited number of call points and active heat and smoke detectors to be installed on site.
Les 500 unités WES+ ont été installées dans un délai de trois jours, immédiatement après que le personnel ait quitté les zones destinées à la rénovation et que les travaux aient commencé sur le site. Comme il s'agit d'un système sans fil, les unités peuvent être facilement repositionnées au fur et à mesure de l'avancement des travaux, sans qu'il soit nécessaire de faire appel à des spécialistes comme c'est le cas avec un système d'alarme incendie câblé.
WES+ all over Europe
“We have had a huge amount of interest in WES+ from across Europe since verification that it achieves full European EN54 system approval – a first for the industry”, said Paul Henson, Sales & Marketing Director at Ramtech.
Ramtech Electronics’ WES+ meets the Construction Products Regulation’s highest standards for production and performance and carries the CE mark. It uses Category 1, Euro-harmonised radio in compliance with European standards covering the use of radio technology in emergency equipment (ETSI 300-220-1).
