ULC CAN/ULC 561:2024 Standard for Installation and Services for Fire Signal Receiving Centres and Systems

PREFACE

This is the Third Edition of CAN/ULC 561, Standard for Installation and Services for Fire Signal Receiving Centres and Systems.

This Edition of the Standard was developed by the ULC Standards Working Group on Installation and Services for Fire Signal Receiving Centres and Systems, reviewed by the ULC Standards Subcommittee on Installation, Inspection and Verification of Fire Alarm Systems, and was formally approved by the ULC Committee on Fire Alarm and Life Safety Equipment and Systems.

This Standard recognizes that a fire signal receiving centre system and service may have additional features or functions differing from those detailed in these requirements which may be accepted, together with the requirements of this Standard, provided that they enhance the life safety of the occupants of the protected premises as well as the fire signal receiving centre.

This Standard has been developed in compliance with the requirements of the Standards Council of Canada for accreditation of Standards Development Organizations.

Only metric SI units of measurement are used in this Standard. If a value for measurement is followed by a value in other units in parentheses, the second value may be approximate. The first stated value is the requirement.

Annexes A, B, C and D, identified as informative, are for informational purposes only.

In Canada, there are two official languages, English and French. All safety warnings must be in French and English. Attention is drawn to the possibility that some Canadian authorities may require additional markings and/or installation instructions to be in both official languages.

This Third Edition National Standard of Canada is based on, and now supersedes, the Second Edition CAN/ULC-S561-13.

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this Canadian standard may be the subject of patent rights. ULC Standards shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

Requests for interpretation of this Standard should be sent to ULC Standards. The requests should be worded in such a manner as to permit a “yes” or “no” answer based on the literal text of the requirement concerned.

This CAN/ULC 561 Standard is under continuous maintenance, whereby each revision is approved in compliance with the requirements of SCC for accreditation of a Standards Development Organization. In the event that no revisions are issued for a period of four years from the date of publication, action to revise, reaffirm, or withdraw the standard shall be initiated.

Comments or proposals for revisions on any part of the Standard may be submitted at any time. Proposals should be submitted via a Proposal Request in the iCollaborative Standards Development System (CSDS) at https://csds.ul.com.

This Standard is intended to be used for conformity assessment.

1 Scope

1.1 This Standard covers the:

a) Construction, operation, installation, inspection and tests applicable to fire signal receiving centres for fire protective signalling services utilizing fire signal receiving centre facilities, satellite centres and bridging centres, hosted fire signal receiving centres, managed fire signal receiving centres, redundant fire signal receiving centres, and temporary fire signal receiving centres;

b) Construction and operation of a proprietary fire signal receiving centre; and

c) Installation, inspection and tests applicable to a fire signal transmitting unit and its field device inputs· at the protected premises.

1.2 The requirements of this Standard do not apply to the test, inspection, maintenance, installation and service of the building fire alarm system at the protected premises, as required in CAN/ULC-S524,

Standard for the Installation of Fire Alarm Systems; CAN/ULC 536, Standard for the Inspection and

Testing of Fire Alarm Systems; and CAN/ULC-S537, Standard for the Verification of Fire Alarm Systems.

1.3 Equipment used in fire signal receiving centre systems is intended to be installed in accordance with the applicable sections of the following:

a) CAN/ULC-S524, Standard for Installation of Fire Alarm Systems;

b) CSA C22.1, Canadian Electrical Code, Part I, Safety Standard for Electrical Installations or

where applicable, a Provincial Electrical Code;

c) NFPA-13, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems; and

d) NFPA-20, Standard for the Installation of Stationary Pumps for Fire Protection.

1.4 iPremisei installations in service prior to the publication of this edition of ULC 561 shall be deemed compliant with this Standard provided that all of the following are met:

a) They were in compliance with ia previous edition of ULC 561i in effect at the time of installation;and

ii

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ib) The alarm signal transmitting unit and/or method of communication have not been changed or upgraded.

Note: Any upgrade of the alarm signal transmitting or communication method will require that the full installation comply with the requirements of this standard. A “like for like” replacement to a failed module of the signal transmitting system installation is not considered an upgrade.

1.5 Where a fire signal receiving centres relocates, it shall be permitted to move and re-install receiving equipment required to service customers utilizing protected premises equipment in accordance with the applicable sections of CAN/ULC 527-M87, Standard for Control Units for Fire Alarm Systems.