Fire safety in parking garages is a high priority.
This is also the opinion of P1, who commissioned Mactwin to replace the existing, outdated, fire alarm system in the P1 Parking Amsterdam Centrum car park.

P1 is the operator and manager of around 80 parking facilities in the Netherlands, including P1 Parking Amsterdam Centrum. This underground parking garage near the Central Station in Amsterdam has an area of about 9000m2, divided over two parking levels. The existing fire alarm and evacuation alarm system in the parking garage was outdated and therefore had to be replaced. Commissioned by P1, engineering consultancy firm Sweco arranges everything related to the replacement and certification of this installation. In this way, Mactwin Security was commissioned to write the Schedule of Requirements (PoR) and replace the installation.

Mari de Heuvel, Fire Protection Specialist at Sweco: “The aim of the
Fire alarm and evacuation alarm system In the parking garage, a (car) fire can be detected and located in time, and then the people who may be present can be informed so that they can escape safely. In accordance with the Building Decree, the parking garage has been equipped by Mactwin with a fully guarded, automatic fire alarm system and an integrated evacuation alarm system type B (slow whoop signal).”

Thermal cable for fire detection

Erik Poulussen, Account Manager at Mactwin: “To detect fire in the parking garage, we installed no less than 3500 meters of thermal cable.”The operation of a thermal sensing cable is similar to that of a thermal differential and maximum detector. This is because the cable transmits an alarm message to the fire alarm panel if either a certain maximum temperature is measured or a certain temperature rise occurs. This can be a higher temperature rise over a short section of the cable or a lower rise over a longer section. “In order to be able to determine the location of the source of the fire, we divided the parking garage into detection bays from 800m2 to a maximum of 1000m2,” says Erik Poulussen.

“A thermal cable is a closed system and therefore very suitable for use in rooms with many sources of interference. There are plenty of these in parking garages; Think of moisture and exhaust fumes. Ordinary thermal detectors are not suitable under these conditions. They would pollute quickly and are sensitive to moisture. Smoke detectors give far too many unwanted fire alarms due to the smoke that cars produce when starting them. Thermal sensing cable has another important advantage, which is its quick installation. Virtually nothing needs to be built in.” “Because of the low ceilings in this parking garage, Mactwin has opted for a vandal-proof version. The detection cable is attached to a steel wire. As a result, it is not possible to disconnect the – in some places relatively low-hanging – detection cable,” adds Mari de Heuvel.

Evacuation in case of CO2 / LPG alarm

In the event of a fire alarm in the parking garage, people present must be able to flee as quickly as possible. A loud evacuation signal is therefore sounded and the barriers at the exits are opened, while those at the entrance are closed. Furthermore, the air treatment system will be switched high in combination with 100% fresh air supply, i.e. without recirculation.

In the event of a fire, it is usually advised to close windows and doors to prevent the supply of fresh air. After all, oxygen ignites a flame. However, in this case, a conscious decision was made to intensify the fresh air supply, in order to quickly remove harmful smoke. This keeps the parking garage safe for as long as possible during the evacuation.

Parking garages also have to deal with strict air quality requirements. That is why, in addition to an air treatment system, there is always a CO2 / LPG detection system available. If the concentration of CO2 / LPG is too high, the detection system sends a notification to the evacuation system.

Derk Jan van Bunnik Sweco
Sweco

Derk Jan van Bunnik Teammanager Safety at Sweco

Engineering firm Sweco Sweco is one of the largest engineering consultancy and architectural firms in Europe.
The firm designs and develops the societies and cities of the future, including sustainable buildings, efficient infrastructure and access to electricity and clean water.
Derk Jan van Bunnik, Safety Team Manager at Sweco, explains: “Safety, including fire safety, is one of our themes.
At the moment, there are quite a few outdated fire alarm systems in the Netherlands that need to be replaced.
We want to unburden organizations that have to deal with this as much as possible.
This means, for example, that we make projection drawings and extensive work descriptions, estimate the costs, organise an inspection, tender the implementation and take care of the certification.
As far as implementation is concerned, we work together with carefully selected, renowned partners.
Partners who deliver A-brands and offer excellent service.
As a Bosch partner, Mactwin Security is one of the four parties we have selected.”