NFPA 72 Mass Notification Requirements Guide

Kara Stamets, Senior Content Marketing Specialist, Alertus Technologies

To safeguard communities and ensure business continuity from emergencies, organizations across different industries must comply with a variety of mass notification codes and mandates aimed at protecting life and property from potential dangers. 

What is NFPA 72?

National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 72, the National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code, provides the latest safety provisions to meet society's changing fire detection, signaling, and emergency communications demands. It covers the application, installation, location, performance, inspection, testing, and maintenance of fire alarm systems, supervising station alarm systems, public emergency alarm reporting systems, fire warning equipment, and emergency communications systems (ECS), and their components. This code serves as a standard for the installation, application, testing, performance, inspection, and maintenance of fire alarm and mass notification systems in buildings nationwide. 

Four Critical Layers of Mass Notification

Chapter 24 of the handbook outlines procedures for emergency communication systems and defines four layers of emergency communication systems as indoor, outdoor, personal, and public. 

Alertus solutions for all four layers:

 
Alertus Solutions for the Four Critical Layers of Mass Notification, including Facility-based alerting, IP Network alerting, Outdoor alerting, and mobile alerting.

Learn More about the Four Critical Layers here.

 

NFPA 72 Code – What’s Required?

  • NFPA 72 requires in-building mass notification systems (MNS) to deliver intelligible audio messages along with visible notification information to serve hearing-impaired individuals and high-noise areas (24.5.16.1).

  • Textual and graphical visible notification appliances shall be permitted to be used for primary or supplemental notification (24.5.18.1).

  • Distributed recipient MNS alerting shall not be used instead of required audible and visual alerting, but shall be integrated whenever possible. NFPA 72 allows public address systems and other infrastructure to be integrated into a fire alarm system. 

NFPA 72 recommends that an MNS include two forms of communication, at least from Layer 1: Indoor Notification, and a secondary method from one of the other layers (24.3.8). The code also requires the use of visual/tactile notification appliances in addition to high-intensity strobes for those with profound hearing loss. 

What Types of Organizations Should Satisfy NFPA 72 Standards?

 
Many organizations must adhere to NFPA 72, including manufacturing, healthcare, commercial, educational institutions, and more.
 

Organizations that must have, or are recommended to adhere to, NFPA 72 include:  

  • Commercial Buildings: Office buildings, retail stores, restaurants, hotels, and other businesses often have a large volume of occupants and require reliable fire alarm systems to ensure their safety.

  • Educational Facilities: Schools, colleges, and universities must have fire alarm systems that comply with NFPA 72 to protect students, faculty, and staff.

  • Healthcare Facilities: NFPA 72 provides specific requirements for fire alarm systems in hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, and other healthcare facilities with vulnerable populations who may need assistance during a fire emergency. 

  • Residential Buildings: Apartment buildings, dormitories, and other multi-family dwellings are usually required to have fire alarm systems that meet NFPA 72 standards.

  • Industrial Facilities: Warehouses, factories, and other types of industrial buildings may have unique fire hazards requiring specialized fire alarm systems designed and maintained according to NFPA 72.

  • Assembly Occupancies: Buildings where communities gather, such as auditoriums, churches, and sports arenas, require fire alarm systems that comply with NFPA 72 to ensure the safe evacuation of occupants.

  • Government Buildings: Federal, state, and local government buildings are often required to comply with NFPA 72 to protect employees and the public.

Alertus Technologies is NFPA 72 Compliant 

An individual pulls a fire alarm in an emergency, activating the Alertus System and the Alert Beacon connected to it.

Fire alarm integration allows fire panel events to activate the Alertus System, extending to the Alert Beacon and text-to-speech functionality to provide spoken voice output.

In 2010, NFPA 72 was updated to include in-building mass notification, and in 2016, it highlighted the Alertus Alert Beacon® (Exhibit 24.10) as an effective in-building alerting solution. The Alert Beacon meets NFPA 72 standards by offering:

  • Greater intelligibility than conventional PA systems

  • Reliable wireless options 

  • Practicality for retrofitting older facilities 

NFPA 72 also allows public address systems and other facility infrastructure to be integrated into fire alarm systems. The Alertus Fire Alarm Control Panel Interface (FACP) provides a comprehensive method for monitoring a fire alarm panel system to activate and distribute emergency alerts. Fire panel events activate the Alertus system and provide complete notification coverage, extending to the Alert Beacon, strobes, and sounders. The FACP is compatible with many existing fire alarm panels and PA systems. 

Contact us to assess your organization's compliance with NFPA 72 mass notification requirements.

Kara Stamets