JUNE 2021 – Minutes

MEMBER MEETING – June 12, 2021 2:31 – 3:10 PM VIA ZOOM

ATTENDEES

agenda

1. Introduction
2. Adoption of Agenda
3. Adoption of May 2021 Minutes
4. Finance Report
5. Old Business
   Vote for Gord Miller – CFAA President in the 2021 Elections in June
   3-Wire Systems & Discontinuation of Batteries – What that means for EVERYONE. (Tim Lindsay)
6. New Business
   Fire Alarm Monitoring with Kelly Davis and Justin Mansbridge, ULC Alarm System Auditors
   BC Gov’t Advanced Education announcement re: Trades Certification

1.  OPEN MEETING AND INTRODUCTIONS: Colin
2.  ADOPTION OF AGENDA
3.  ADOPTION OF May 2021 MINUTES

Tim Lindsay – Cantec 1^st.  Murray Enders – Troy Life 2^nd. Unanimous.

4.  FINANCIAL REPORT:

$2,148.57 as at May 31^st in account.Current balance as of today – $1,395.02.Three more members have paid their dues and we issued one cheque, as we have used some of the funds to work on upgrading our website – do take a look: www.vifpa.ca. Reminder that we now have the updated Membership form online which includes the addition of AHJ’s and Lifetime Memberships.

5.   OLD BUSINESS

a. Vote for Gord Miller – CFAA President in the 2021 Elections in June

The list of candidates has not been released at present. Waiting to see what happens. Could be that they’re hoping to maintain the status quo.

Very few folks from farther west than Saskatchewan. Gord is running with Chris Caddell’s backing. VOTE GORD on June 22^nd. Be sure to register to vote on the CFAA website. $300 for participating membership. https://legacy.cfaa.ca/CorporateMembership.aspx

b) 3-Wire Systems & Discontinuation of Batteries

We’ll keep everyone informed on what’s going to be happening in Victoria. These systems still exist in other municipalities as well. It would be good to have an inventory of these types of systems so that they can be monitored on a case-by-case basis by fire departments.

6. NEW BUSINESS

a) Capt. Alan Millbank, Nanaimo Fire Department asked some questions about Fire Alarm Monitoring. This presentation, with Kelly Davis and Justin Mansbridge, ULC Alarm System Auditors, is to provide answers and education.

Kelly Davis of ULC rolled out the PowerPoint presentation on CAN/ULC-S561 – Fire Alarm Monitoring. The full presentation, question and answer period, and information on ULC-certification benefits will be available on the VIFPA web site in the future in the Members Only area.

What about municipalities who are saying that they don’t require monitoring, even on buildings that clearly fall under the BC Building Code requirement for monitoring? They should be reminded that the Code is the minimum standard and they can’t choose to fall below that requirement.

More info regarding the certification program can be found here: https://canada.ul.com/ulcprograms/fireandsecurityalarmcertificateprograms/

Discussion re: new CAN/ULC-S536 document.  The annual inspection report has been moved into the standard itself, making it enforceable as opposed to suggestive, and must be used in its entirety and can only be altered to include corporate logos. This will take affect in BC when the new Fire Code adopts it. Also, no longer allowed to use battery capacity meters. One must use a proper voltage and resistance meter, accelerated testing as per S537, the full 24 hr testing mode, or battery manufacturer method.

b) BC Gov’t Advanced Education announcement re: Trades Certification

At this point, the focus doesn’t appear to be on the fire alarm industry directly, but it will be interesting to see where it all goes.

NEXT MEETING

Wednesday, July 14, 2021 at 2:30 PM via ZOOM

CLOSING: 3:48 PM