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Al BastienI agree Jon, that the FPPA and the Fire Code may address the issue. That is exactly why I made the statements I did.
There was a question posed as to what the technicians and service companies were doing about it. There is nothing in the Standard that the device fails, so we can do nothing.
Enforcement as you know falls to the AHJ. The requirements of the Fire Code can’t be applied by a technician or a service provider.
I’m all for the AHJ forcing the device out of a building if they have a concern. I do however question one part of how you would apply 1.1.1.2.(3). It states
“(3) Any appliance, device or component of a device that does not operate or appear to operate as intended when checked, inspected or tested as required by this Code shall be repaired or replaced if the failure or malfunctioning of the appliance, device or component would adversely affect fire or life safety.”
You can’t test if it operates because it would be a destructive test. You can’t look at it and state that it does not appear that it would operate as intended because not all of them would fail the destructive test. The ones that pass and the ones that fail the destructive test look identical. If as the AHJ you feel it would stick if appealed – you’ve got my vote – Write the order. The AHJs are the only ones who can force the building owner to remove these devices.
As to the failure rate, my understanding is that because a few tests of the devices (as ordered by an AHJ who wanted to enforce the appendix in CAN/ULC-S536) indicated that some didn’t activate, it prompted the requirement to notify Health Canada and the recall was issued. My understanding is also that this failure was self reported by the manufacturer to Health Canada.