Our customer, St Mary’s School Ascot, invited RES to tender for the upgrade of the school fire alarm system in 2013. RES were already responsible for the servicing and maintenance of the fire alarm system and extinguishers.

Their existing system had a number of flaws which needed to be addressed.

St Mary’s School Ascot is a leading Roman Catholic boarding school for 390 girls.

The site covers 55 acres and contains over twenty separate buildings including a Chapel, Sports Centre, Swimming Pool, Theatre, Arts Faculty, as well as a number of standalone pupil and staff accommodation units.

It may be possible to upgrade the fire resistance of existing doors. Additional notes and guidance is available on Glazing, Hinges and Self Closing doors and devices from RES.

RES provided its tender document containing detailed costings and explanations of the upgrades required.

On acceptance, RES scheduled the works to be undertaken out of term time and within strict timescales and costings.

Replacement panels were installed and networked together in line with our recommendations, along with replacement sounder bases, additional call points and detectors.

Limitations to the way the zones were addressed were resolved by the panel upgrades, increasing the number of zones from 20 to 87, allowing for greater accuracy and speed in the detection of fire and faults across the sites.

At a later phase, RES were also asked to install an integrated Lockdown Alarm for the school using the existing networking and infrastructure. Additional call points were installed at key points and a lockdown “pulse” was enabled using the fire alarm system.

There are now over 2300 fire alarm system devices across the school site including call points, relays, detectors, beacons, sounders and door closers – all working together to create a complete solution.

As the school has expanded and improved its facilities, RES has been able to continually maintain, improve and upgrade the fire alarm system in line with the school’s needs.

RES work closely with the school’s Estate Manager to ensure a programme of maintenance and upgrades is planned and executed, therefore ensuring the utmost safety of pupils, staff and visitors.

“Following a careful review of the marketplace, RES were selected to plan and execute a comprehensive upgrade of our fire detection and alarm system. The upgrade was successfully completed on time and to budget and has undoubtedly made the school environment a safer place for pupils, staff and visitors. Since the upgrade programme, I have been delighted with the prompt, helpful and effective support provided to St Mary’s by RES who are particularly good at understanding and taking into account the challenges of working within a boarding school environment.”

• Design, Installation and Commissioning
• Servicing and Maintenance
• Additional Works
• Fire Alarm System Upgrades
• Fault Finding and Repairs
• Regular Checks