Episode Summary:
Drew sits down with Dr. Roger Reiswig, Industry Liaison at Johnson Controls, for a deep conversation on how NFPA 72 has evolved over the years and where fire alarm standards are headed. Roger brings nearly 40 years of experience at JCI (starting as a Simplex technician in 1986) and shares his perspective on everything from international code adoption to the practical challenges of testing devices at 40-foot ceilings. Topics covered:
- How countries outside the US adopt and implement NFPA codes (often faster than US states)
- European EN standards vs NFPA: where they align and where they differ
- Europe’s requirement to replace smoke detectors on a fixed cycle vs the US approach
- The 2010 scope change in NFPA 72 and why inspections actually pulled back
- Remote and automated inspection technology: where adoption stands today
- How UL and NFPA standards push each other forward
- NFPA 3 & 4: integrated testing requirements now showing up in building codes
- Carbon monoxide detection moving from NFPA 720 into NFPA 72
- How CO detectors are functionally tested (and why it took work with UL to figure that out)
- Canada’s ULC certification model vs the US approach
