When do I need a voice alarm system?

This does not follow from a single standard but from the fire protection concept and the special-building regulations of the relevant federal state. It is typically required where large numbers of people unfamiliar with the building come together: assembly venues, retail premises, hotels, schools and larger office buildings.

What is the difference between SAA and ENS?

A voice alarm system (SAA) is part of the fire alarm system and is installed to DIN VDE 0833-4. An electroacoustic emergency warning system (ENS) to DIN EN 50849 warns more generally, including in other hazard situations. The technology is similar; the requirements and the acceptance procedure differ.

Can I reuse my existing public address system?

As a rule, not without further work. A voice alarm system must be monitored, supplied with emergency power and cabled with circuit integrity — requirements an ordinary public address system does not meet. Whether individual components can be reused is settled by the site survey.

What does speech intelligibility mean and how is it tested?

It refers to whether an announcement is actually understood in the room — which depends on reverberation, background noise and loudspeaker position. The verification is carried out by measurement and documented; which values apply is set by the fire protection concept in conjunction with DIN VDE 0833-4.

How often must a voice alarm system be inspected?

As for the fire alarm system it belongs to: quarterly inspection and annual maintenance under DIN VDE 0833-1. Both must be documented.

Who is allowed to install a voice alarm system?

DIN 14675 requires a specialist company with appropriately qualified staff — the same requirement as for the fire alarm system. We clarify which qualifications must be evidenced for your project before any commission is placed.

DIN VDE 0833-4

Voice alarm (SAA) & emergency warning systems

Voice alarm systems raise the alarm with an intelligible announcement rather than a tone. Planning, installation, intelligibility verification and maintenance to DIN VDE 0833-4 and DIN 14675.

Request a consultation See inspection duties

At a glance.

A siren tone tells a person that something is wrong. It does not tell them where to go. That is precisely why voice alarm systems are increasingly required in assembly venues, retail premises, hotels, schools and larger office buildings: an announcement directs the evacuation rather than merely triggering it — zone by zone, in the order the fire protection concept sets out.

In the standards, the voice alarm system is part of the fire alarm system and is planned, accepted and maintained together with it. FireLux takes on the detailed design, loudspeaker layout, cabling with circuit integrity, commissioning with measurement of speech intelligibility, and the recurring maintenance.

Voice alarm systems (SAA) to DIN VDE 0833-4 and DIN 14675
Electroacoustic emergency warning systems (ENS) to DIN EN 50849
Loudspeaker layout and measured verification of speech intelligibility
Cabling with circuit integrity in accordance with the cable installation directive
Coupling to the fire alarm system and control of individual evacuation zones
Recurring inspection, maintenance and documentation

Kenndaten

Leitnorm: DIN VDE 0833-4
Inspection interval: Quartal
Regelwerke: 8
Prüfpunkte: 4

Standards & regulations.

The rules this work is planned, installed, signed off and maintained against.

DIN VDE 0833-4

Standard 01 / 08

Voice alarm systems for use in case of fire

Governs the planning, installation, operation and maintenance of voice alarm systems and their interaction with the fire alarm system.

DIN 14675

Standard 02 / 08

Fire alarm systems — Design and operation

Treats the voice alarm system as part of the fire alarm system: the same specialist-firm requirement and the same process from planning through to maintenance.

DIN EN 54-16

Standard 03 / 08

Voice alarm control and indicating equipment

Product requirements for the control panel that stores, monitors and outputs alarm announcements.

DIN EN 54-24

Standard 04 / 08

Loudspeakers for voice alarm systems

Product standard for the loudspeakers themselves, including their behaviour in case of fire.

DIN EN 54-4

Standard 05 / 08

Power supply equipment

Requirements for the power supply unit and battery backup — a voice alarm system must remain able to make announcements even during a power outage.

DIN EN 50849

Standard 06 / 08

Electroacoustic emergency warning systems

Applies to emergency warning systems beyond the pure fire case; it superseded DIN EN 60849.

MLAR

Standard 07 / 08

Muster-Leitungsanlagen-Richtlinie

Requires cabling for safety-relevant systems to maintain circuit integrity for a defined period, so that the announcement does not fail along with the cable in case of fire.

Sonderbauvorschriften

Standard 08 / 08

Requirements under state law

Whether a voice alarm system is required follows from the fire safety concept and the state's special building regulations — for example for assembly, retail and accommodation premises.

From survey to maintenance.

01
Site survey
Record the evacuation concept, the room acoustics and the existing fire alarm and public address equipment.
02
Concept & planning
Define alarm zones, lay out loudspeakers, plan circuit integrity and the location of the control equipment.
03
Installation
Fit the control equipment, amplifiers, loudspeaker lines and emergency microphone, and integrate them into the fire alarm system.
04
Acceptance & commissioning
Function test, measurement of speech intelligibility, briefing and acceptance with all parties involved.
05
Maintenance & documentation
Recurring inspection and maintenance to DIN VDE 0833-1, documented without gaps.

Inspect, maintain, document.

What has to be inspected how often — and the standard each interval rests on.

quarterly

Inspection 01 / 04

Inspection of the system

DIN VDE 0833-1

annually

Inspection 02 / 04

Maintenance of the system

DIN VDE 0833-1

annually

Inspection 03 / 04

Test of the emergency power supply

DIN EN 54-4

at acceptance and after modifications

Inspection 04 / 04

Verification of speech intelligibility

DIN VDE 0833-4

What you get.

Benefit 01 / 03

Evacuation, not merely an alarm

An announcement tells those present what to do and directs them zone by zone. That noticeably shortens evacuation time compared with a plain tone.

Benefit 02 / 03

One trade with the fire alarm system

Voice alarm and fire alarm systems are planned, accepted and maintained together. One contractor, one inspection report, no argument about interfaces.

Benefit 03 / 03

Intelligibility proven, not asserted

Speech intelligibility is measured and documented at acceptance — for the building authority and for the operator.

Questions.

Related trades.

What is usually planned and maintained together in practice.

Voice alarm systems

Sprechen wir über Ihr Objekt.

Schildern Sie uns kurz die Situation — wir sagen Ihnen, was tatsächlich erforderlich ist und was es kostet.

(030) 240 32 950 info@fire-lux.de

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