NFPA 72 Explained: Dr. Rodger Reiswig on What's New in the Code

Dr. Rodger Reiswig of Johnson Controls opened his SIBCA seminar with a simple claim: the fire alarm system you learned twenty or thirty years ago no longer exists. Detect smoke, close a relay, ring the sounders and go home is not the job anymore. Today’s system talks to first responders, listens for leaking sprinkler pipes, guards against cyber intrusion, and adjusts how loudly it speaks depending on who is in the room.

“You could argue now that a fire alarm system really should be reclassified as a life safety system, no longer a fire alarm system.”

He also reminded the audience that NFPA 72, the National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code, is not a US-only document. It is applied across Central and South America, Northern Africa and throughout the Middle East. If you are preparing for a certification exam, these changes are the material examiners increasingly draw on. Here is what he covered.

Direct Notification of First Responders

Historically an alarm signal went to a supervising station, a human operator picked up a phone, and the fire department was dispatched. NFPA 72 now allows the system to send signals directly to first responders and civil defense. Responders can see how many devices activated and where in the building, and begin developing a response plan while still en route. The human relay step can be removed entirely.

Acoustic Leak Detection

This one surprised many attendees. Acoustic leak detection has existed for years in water utilities, where a cracked main emits a high-frequency signature that can be pinpointed underground. NFPA 72 now brings that technology inside the building for sprinkler systems. A fractured pipe or improperly seated thread leaking water, or nitrogen on a dry-pipe system, produces a detectable high-frequency sound. The code now provides design, installation and maintenance rules for these detectors because, as Reiswig put it, if the code allows a technology, it has to tell you how to design, install and maintain it.

Cybersecurity in Chapter 7 and Beyond

Cybersecurity is the largest structural addition. The concern is not that a bad actor will misuse the fire alarm itself. It is that a connected life safety panel becomes a vehicle into the building owner’s critical data infrastructure, much like the widely reported fish tank and HVAC breaches.

Reiswig laid out how NFPA 72 structures this:

• Exemption for isolated systems. If your panel has no ability to connect to the outside world, cybersecurity requirements do not apply.
• Security levels. Connected systems are classified as SL1, SL2 or SL3 based on whether they use non-IP protocols, IP on a dedicated private network, or IP wired or wireless interfaces to public networks. Your mitigation strategy follows the level.
• Recognized frameworks. To prove compliance to engineers, consultants and owners, the code points to the NIST Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity, ISO/IEC 27001 for information security management, and Cyber Essentials.
• Physical controls. Cables, connectors and equipment must be protected. Locked closets, controlled access and blocking of unused data ports all count.
• Documentation in Chapter 7. Building owners must now include IT equipment in their maintenance plans, maintain access logs, and restrict who may enter areas housing that equipment.

“Cyber security is not just a manufacturer issue. I play a big part in that on the products that I create, but once they’re installed, how they’re updated, how they’re maintained, the building owner plays a big part in that.”

Manufacturers now carry ongoing obligations too. Equipment must be reviewed for vulnerabilities no less than quarterly. Unlike a phone update, a life safety patch must be tested after installation, so owners and service providers need to plan whether updates land during annual or semiannual inspections. Manufacturers must also declare when a product becomes obsolete and can no longer receive security updates, and notify the owner, much like an operating system reaching end of support.

Restricted Audible Mode Operation (RAMO)

For occupants with severe autism or cognitive conditions, a traditional full-volume alarm can trigger the opposite of evacuation. Children in particular may hide under a desk or in a closet. RAMO permits a reduced audible mode so staff can train and support those occupants in evacuating. The same allowance applies in zoos and animal-care facilities where caged animals are stressed by loud sounders.

Batteries and the Panel as a Tester

Two practical battery changes emerged. First, cheap imported batteries have been damaging chargers and power supplies badly enough that NFPA 72 now requires standby batteries to be either component-recognized and cross-listed with the control unit, or listed to UL 1989 or UL 2054. The original January 1, 2024 effective date has been removed in the latest edition simply because that date has passed.

Second, the fire alarm control unit itself may now serve as the battery tester. Many panels already perform the charger test, voltage test, ohmic and resistance test, and load test. The code recognizes that, so a separate tester is no longer mandatory. The one gap Reiswig noted is the temperature test, which most panels still do not perform.

Inspection, Testing and Nuisance Alarms

Several clarifications target field practice:

• Inspectors do not evaluate design. NFPA 72 now states that routine inspection and testing does not require re-evaluating the existing design. The inspector verifies that what is installed functions, and cannot withhold a certificate to force additional devices onto an existing building.
• Magnets are not a smoke test. The code uses rare negative language: magnets are not acceptable for smoke entry tests.
• Construction protection. Smoke detectors installed too early and left unprotected during sanding and cleanup accumulate dust that causes nuisance alarms months or years later. Protection during construction is now required.

Smoke Detection Above 10 Feet

For the first time, NFPA 72 provides guidance for smoke detectors on ceilings above 10 feet (3 meters). Based on a Fire Protection Research Foundation project, spot smoke detectors may now be applied up to 40 feet (12.2 meters) using the same 30-foot nominal spacing, with 0.7 of listed spacing, roughly 21 feet (7 meters), in any direction.

Thermal Imaging and Carbon Monoxide

Video image smoke detection never gained the traction the industry expected, but Reiswig believes thermal imaging detectors will. A camera can see a fire growing inside a pile of material that looks like nothing more than dust to the human eye, and now that detector can report directly to the fire alarm control unit.

Carbon monoxide detection received a clear placement rule set. Because hemoglobin binds CO preferentially over oxygen, exposure causes organ starvation that mimics a cold, flu or COVID. Wherever a fuel-burning appliance exists, whether oil, coal, wood, gas or propane, detectors are required:

1. On the ceiling or wall within 12 inches (300 mm) of the permanently installed CO source.
2. At least one per floor or per HVAC zone.
3. Within 6.4 meters of any door to a sleeping area.

Since CO has nearly the same specific gravity as air, no spacing grid is needed. The ceiling placement over the appliance exists because combustion produces warm rising air that carries CO to the detector sooner.

Notification and Design Details

Reiswig closed with rapid-fire changes designers should note:

• Standard starting voltage for notification appliance circuit calculations is now defined, ending the mix of numbers manufacturers and consultants were using. The same standardization applies to speaker wattage on AC systems.
• “Bedroom” becomes “sleeping area” to clarify where low-frequency sounders and CO detection apply.
• Unsupervised interface wiring may extend from 3 feet (1 meter) to 6 meters if run in conduit or otherwise mechanically protected. The 1-meter limit remains for free wire.
• Pausing evacuation signals for no more than 180 seconds after initiation was shown by Research Foundation studies to help high-rise occupants compose themselves and evacuate faster. NFPA 72 now provides guidance for this.
• Building System Information Units (BSIU) allow an off-the-shelf computer listed to UL 60950 or UL 62368 to run listed graphics software on a fire alarm network. A listed fire alarm control unit must still be in the same room, and the BSIU can only do what the panel on the wall can do, but it avoids the cost of a fully UL 864-listed computer.

How Fire Code Mastery Fits Into This

Every topic in this seminar maps to material you will be tested on: NAC voltage drop starting values, standby battery listings, CO detector placement, smoke detector spacing at height, inspection and testing scope, and the new cybersecurity documentation in Chapter 7. Fire Code Mastery is built to drill exactly these areas. The app includes 3,450+ NFPA 72 exam questions organized by chapter, 10+ calculators covering battery sizing, voltage drop and detector spacing so the new standardized starting voltage becomes second nature, flash cards for definitions like RAMO, BSIU and sleeping area, case studies that walk through real design and inspection scenarios, and full-length mock tests that mirror the pacing of NICET and state licensing exams. If you want the code changes Dr. Reiswig described to stick before exam day, the app puts them in front of you as questions, not just as slides.