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UL 217
UL and the UL logo are trademarks of UL LLC © 2020.
Source: Smart Smoke Alarms and New UL Testing Standards, Presentation to International Fire Chiefs Association (IAFC) October 11, 2019, iafc.org
8TH EDITION
UPDATE
TRUSTED, RELIABLE
PROTECTION SINCE 1958
WHAT IS UL 217 8TH EDITION?
An update to the UL standard will go into effect June 30, 2021 for all manufacturers
of smoke and combination smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.
Alarms produced after this date must be compliant to the performance requirements
as specied in the UL 217 8th edition Standard for Safety for Single and Multiple
Station Smoke Alarms. The implementation date applies to the date of manufacture
and does not prohibit the continued sell through of any inventory on hand at our
BRK distribution center or in stock at electrical distributor locations at the time of the
transition. Alarms manufactured prior to the transition date can continue to be installed
in compliance with local building code requirements and job site specications.
UPDATE TO UL STANDARD DELAYED UNTIL JUNE 30, 2022
EFFECTIVE DATE CONFIRMED - JUNE 30, 2022
PER UL BULLETIN
UL 217 8th Edition Affects all smoke and
combination alarms
NEW TEST PARAMETERS:
Responsive to
B More than
changes in
home and nish
materials
C
nuisance alarm
criteria
DMore stringent
200 technical
changes to
the standard
WHY AN UPDATE?
Research by re industry experts found that re dynamics in a home have changed
over the last several decades. According to UL, newer synthetic materials in the home,
more open layouts and lighter construction materials all burn hotter and faster. This
research led the industry experts and UL to create new performance requirements for
certain types of ammable material res, such as polyurethane foam.
According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), nuisance alarms are
a leading reason for disconnected smoke alarms. To enable manufacturers to
produce more responsive alarms that do not cause nuisance alarms during
cooking, UL conducted a research project to develop data on smoke characteristics
during normal cooking events. This research led to new test requirements for
nuisance alarm tests.
ESCAPE TIMES IN HOME FIRES HAS DECREASED
OVER THE LAST 40 YEARS
APPROX.
17 M I N
1978 2018
Natural
materials
and furnishing
APPROX.
3 MIN
Synthetic
materials and
open oor plans
PRECISION DETECTION
TECHNOLOGY
Precision Detection is First Alert’s
advanced sensing technology that
will be used for all smoke and
combination alarms in that comply
with UL 217 8th edition revised
smoke alarm standards.
brkelectronics.com
Early
Warning
There have been signicant changes in
home furnishing and nish materials over
the past 30 years. Most modern-day
household furniture are made from synthetic
materials, which burns faster. First Alert
Precision Detection technology gives you
more time to escape in the event of an
emergency as they detect smoke faster and
provide early warning.
© 2020 BRK Brands, Inc. All rights reserved. Distributed by BRK Brands, Inc., Aurora, Illinois 60504.
Less Cooking
Nuisance
First Alert Precision Detection technology
smoke alarms will help distinguish
between nuisance alarms and a re
emergency. Three of every vehome re
deaths resulted from res in homes with
no working smoke alarms and the #1
reason why people disable smoke alarms
is due to nuisance cooking alarms. (UL)
BRK Brands, Inc. is a subsidiary of Newell Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: NWL).
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