Even more old stuff



High Tech Phone and communication systems
The coming melt down and disaster

By: Nick Markowitz Jr.
Citizen- Patriot
Communications Expert

In the old days of Phone Lines and telephones a copper set of wires came from the local telephone Provider such as Bell Telephone, ATT, GTE etc. to your house or business and came directly to your good old fashioned heavy built desk or wall phone.
In the old days 99.9% of the time you could pick up the phone and there would be a dial tone and you could dial who ever you were trying to reach even when all the power in the neighborhood would go out.
Fast forward to summer of 2003 and a massive East Coast power failure not only put millions in the dark in many cases it left them with no phone service. No cell phones
No Internet in fact no communication at all even a large amount of AM/FM Radio and TV Stations went down completely and those that were operating were doing so at reduced power levels.
Welcome to the nightmarish world of modern digital communication.
Today communications are run by computers and electronics which require constant power on both ends of the communications unlike the days of P.O.T.S. Plain Old Telephone Service were the only power needed was provided by the phone companies battery array at there central office. Today phone communication is much more complex like T1, T3, DSL, ISDN, Main Frame and Cable TV Broadband using Fiber Optics, Microwave, satellite and all offer high speed access and efficiency and all are vulnerable to total failure when power is lost. Even the old-fashioned phone service you may still have is done by electronic switching which is more reliable than digital services but even it could fail. When a major electronic switch goes out at the phone company central office. Which has happened several times to large 911 emergency call centers.
And even if you have old-fashioned phone service if you have a cordless [wireless] phone it will not work during a power failure either, unless it has a back up battery in the phone base and then it will only work for 1-2 hours .Plus many systems can fail and take out entire blocks of phone service if just 1 amplifier fails some were between you and the phone company All of these pitfalls of high tech communications are often times never explained to you the customer and it can result in needless death and tragedy. Take the recent case were one of my customers a large Pipe coating plant had been using POTS lines for many years and had a modern multi line phone system
With a small battery back up which kept the phones up for 1-2 hours and even if that went out they still had direct emergency phone lines that operated even after the main phone system failed.  On those emergency phone lines was an alarm system which called plant personnel by way of 24 hr monitored central station it was critical in the plant they knew the power was out because the tar that coated the pipes and flows thru the various coating machines becomes rock hard in a matter of hours.
Well an alternative phone carrier convinced the plant to switch over to high speed digital phone service to save money and you guessed it the power went out at the plant and because the digital phone service requires power from both ends the signal did not get out because the small back up battery was not big enough to allow the alarms to call out the result thousands in damage and 14 people laid off for several weeks till repairs could be made. Just imagine this same scenario happening with all the Fire alarm systems out there that communicate over phone lines and how many times are the fires electrical in nature, it is jut a matter of time till there is a major loss of life because of digital phone service failing and the fire dept not getting called.  Which brings up many other problems as well with many older fire systems not being able to communicate because the digital phone lines often times confuses older fire system dialers and thousands of potential failures are waiting to happen. Plus with al the businesses and homes installing DSL service many do not realize special filters must be installed on fire and burglar panels so they dial out correctly. I have been very proactive trying to get new codes adopted by NFPA National Fire Protection Assoc. to help ensure calls get thru but I have been totally ignored as well as by the vast majority of phone carriers. And until a major tragedy happens and litigation forces the hands of all involved. The time bomb will keep ticking.

So how do you protect your home and business to make sure the call gets out the following is a checklist of items to watch out for and ask about?

1-      How is the Phone service provided- POTS – or Digital

Check with your phone provider and find out what type of service you have how is it backed up and can it be further backed up to keep communications operating.
Consider installing 1 or 2 POTS lines to allow for emergency back up .If the digital lines or its battery back up fails, also make sure alarms are regularly inspected and tested and if phone techs come and do work at your home or business make sure to check all alarms
Are working and communicating before the tech walks out the door?

2-      Find out what type of phone system you are using in your home or business and If it needs power to stay operating and if it can be backed up by battery etc and for how long and can it be extended. Also is there emergency back up POTS jacks, which a single line type 2500 device (plain old telephone) can be plugged into if the phone system fails.


3-      Establish a chain of command call list so only 1-3 people make the critical calls to all needing called instead of several individuals which will help lesson the chance of tying up phone lines.


4-      If you require battery back up make sure that some one or some service provider is making sure it is being maintained properly so it will function in an emergency.


5-      If communications are critical consider maintaining a 2-way radio system with appropriate battery back up were needed and or the use of Satellite phones, which are pricey but will work anywhere



Following these guidelines is one way to help to insure the call will get out and assistance will arrive when needed during a major power outage or disaster.




How did this Heat Detector Design
Get past the approving agencies?

By Nick Markowitz Jr.
Fire Investigator-www.securitymision.com

Walk into almost any commercial building in fact many homes with a professionally installed hard wired Fire or combo Fire / Burglar system and you will find round white disks from 1 to 3 inches in diameter being used in the system for the detection of heat
From a fire were traditional Smoke Detectors can not be used with out going into constant false alarm There are well over several million plus of these disks made by many different manufacturers being used in the field they are not intended for use as Life safety Protection but they still serve a very important role of detecting a fire as early as possible. Some heat detectors are fixed temp like the 190o units used in a attic or kitchen or they also combine a rate of rise unit to detect a fast change of temperature in a room generally 15o in 5 minutes time.
But recently while servicing a number of fire systems I have taken the contract over on and recently even finding brand new detectors were the terminal strip has popped off the heat detector and a trouble signal has never sounded at the panel, which it should to warn the heat detector has malfunctioned. The only way you would find this problem is with the annual inspection in which many cases if a system ever gets checked after it is installed you are lucky.
The problem is the way the terminal strip is attached to the heat detector both the incoming and out going wires are on the same brass strip which is attached by way of a rivet and when either the rivet is not properly spread when the unit is made which I found on several brand new units or when the installer puts too big a wire or too much torque the strip pops off and the in coming and outgoing wire strip terminal is left dangling off the detector and no signal is sent because electrical circuit is still being maintained.
I have also seen this design on some older smoke detectors as well, which is bad news.
There could be thousands of heat detectors all over the country not providing protection.
Some Fire Professionals will tell you heats serve no real purpose they take to long to trigger but I have seen them operate and activate fire alarms several times now in industrial environments and in residential and commercial garages after all do not most sprinkler heads operate by heat.
So here’s the problem this is a known problem with in the industry it has been brought to the attention of those who design and approve yet nothing has been done. Some companys have come out with a new heat design but you can still walk into any supply house and for around $10.00 buy as many of these units with a design flaw as you like.
With all of the code changes now in the works this simple flaw has still yet to be addressed and is still an on going concern.
How many deaths and how many lawsuits is it going to take against all involved till they get it right. With codes. Im afraid it is still going to be a long time since the new UCC is still receiving a D- for implementation and enforcement.
Once again Pa will lead in firefighter and civilian deaths this year. I am getting tired of it what about you.



I bring you a Bed Time story of
“Arson for Fun and Profit”
By Nick Markowitz Jr.
Fire Investigator

Real Estate Development is like a big Chess Game there are winners and losers and downright criminal activities sometimes involved. Arson being the Checkmate plays in some cases by those who have no conscious or scruples when it comes to developing.
For it is these individuals who give a bad name to honest and hard working developers.

Our  fictional story begins in the 1950’s in the back room of an exclusive men’s club in a big city along a winding river valley filled with industrial factory’s and steel mills all going great guns in this room are the heads of government, business and organized crime they are there to hatch a plan to split up this valleys territory into sections for when the day that casino gambling comes to town so that not only will everyone get a cut but that they will all get very rich including there family’s and there children’s children with the taxpayer footing the bill .They make sure every one involved gets cut into the plan one way or another including judges ,lawyers and legislators if needed to make sure that no outside competition even has a chance to bid on the property.
Their plan is to slowly, quietly and completely buy up complete acreage around riverfronts were the land is flat and easily developable and they would have complete control of all development. They would do it buy having straw buyers buy portfolios of property who would then sell it to the developer it got to the point 
No one knew for sure who owned exactly what And thru the  50’, 60’ and 70’s this is exactly what they do with most people paying no attention as to who owns what as companys and community’s come and go ,and every one is employed and happy .But still no gambling has come thru because the economy is still to good and there would be strong opposition to gambling in the strong church going towns.
But this was not to be in the late 1970’s the steel industry started declining and with it the entire manufacturing base and thousands were out of work and governments could not afford essential services like police and fire. Many people picked up and left for other states leaving behind many abandoned property’s which fell into a state of disrepair Fast forward to late 80s were long decaying steel and manufacturing facilities now line the river and railroad towns and homes and business are mostly boarded up and gone.
Except for the mystical town called River Stone This town is one of the few survivors
Of the rust belt. Its clean streets and friendly shopkeepers and well kept homes gives you that old town feel this is an old money town.
Compared to its neighbor town Broken Stone
Which still had many little shops but whose population was older and on the decline
 Times have been much harder here boarded up buildings have deteriorated to the point they fall into the street. It is a no mans land down in the flats compared to the up town side, which still has most of its residents.
And once again the cry goes out from local governments and citizens we need riverboat gambling like other states to help with our tax base. The time is now right for our developers to strike and start buying up the final parcels they need to complete their plans .River boat gambling is not far off or so they thought . But they know they will never be able to buy up the property they need in River Stone and besides the educated and well to do of River Stone would never allow it.
But this does not stop the developers plans they’re plenty of ripe land right over in broken stone and other depressed towns. Plus the bonus is the blue-collar population is exactly who they want to target   these are the people who will gamble and not ask questions , not like the majority in River Stone who would not. The problem is though how to acquire those properties cheaply because even thou many were eager to sell to the straw buyers and take the money and run the original families and others were just not going to leave. Plus what politician in his right mind would commit suicide recommending taking peoples property
By eminent domain for a casino.
And so the developers put forth a brilliant yet devious plan to get the property’s they wanted and get paid by the government the whole time there dirty deeds were done.
It would take several years but by then people would become so desperate gambling would be seen as a way to rescue the community’s from crushing property and other taxes. With all the tax revenue and jobs they would create.
So they set forth there plans with there straw buyers buying from the surviving children the homes of those whose parents have died the kids no longer want the homes they live out of town and the fast cash they make is tempting because the property values have slid on the flats. So with the homes they have bought the plan now comes full circle as these straw buyers do the minimal repairs needed and turn them into section 8 housing with now absentee landlords and the section 8 tenants and there reputation for trouble is quickly exploited as even more elderly people and families move out .the plan is succeeding as they slowly take over the flats and with the section 8 housing comes the crimes the burglary’s the hold ups, assaults and the vandalism which drives even more out of the town. But as they make there play for the flats they make sure some other developer does not come in and scoop them by giving parcels of land to town planning and state officials even the state governor who will all get rich when the land is sold to the right gambling group. There plan is going like clock work But yet there are the hold outs this is were the plan for “Arson for fun and Profit is hatched” the villains in our story find the perfect patsy to work there plan as they get a young mentally disturbed man to do there bidding when they fill his head with the thoughts that every one in the town is trying to get him. So late one evening the fires start. First in abandoned buildings and homes .As the young man exacts his revenge on imaginary enemies. And besides he is insane who would believe him even if he does talk. Every week it seems the fire dept is putting out a suspicious fire. No one has gotten hurt so far but then one evening a local business goes up a lumberyard and a night watchman is seriously hurt.
Then more unoccupied homes till finally occupied homes start catching fire along with other business. The town folks begin to panic and set up a block watch but the fires continue and get bolder even a church is set a blaze  Up to this point most of the fires are hardly investigated there’s no insurance so those involved do not have to worry private insurance investigators showing up and in fact a couple of the business that went up were deliberately set by the owners. Trying to cover their tracks by making it look like the unknown serial arsonist did it. The town Fire Marshal is old and ready to retire so he is in no position to track down the criminal so he calls in outside help from the county, state  and feds,who have there own man power and jurisdictional issues along with investigators and detectives from hired political hacks to true professionals. But the fires continue as the various agencies’ point fingers at each other.
The young man who was having his fun is caught and convicted but not before over 75 fires in the town and surrounding area have occurred .All during the rampage some try to get to the bottom of what is going on an try to get the investigators and town officials o listen to them but they are ignored or driven to nervous break down because they are constantly ignored .The damage now done and so many people have now left town with complete blocks burned down there is little hope for the town. Some companys come and propose factories and jobs but their plans are always foiled by constant union demands and town demands for taxes, permits etc. they pull out of their proposals and build elsewhere. But then a shiny knight arrives a casino gaming group wants to build a new magnificent shopping and gaming complex complete with hotels, and restaurants and other forms of entertainment. The town approves it with out problem and gives them all kind of tax breaks because the towns so desperate for funds have finally got gambling legalized in the state all those involved in owning the property are well paid off
In the end .
A nice neat little package for all involved in the dirty deeds. They have there Casino and there control .
There is no happy ending just a lot of graft  and corruption continuing as the casinos are shaken down  property values continue to decline ,crime and prostitution is rampart as is embezzlement  the promised development and jobs the casino was to bring never happens
Just another sad little river town in a dying valley.

Now not that I hate gambling and think it should not be If you want to gamble or you want casinos so be it.. But my little story has more painful truth to it than many of us want to admit.
Just keep repeating to your self  “this is just a fictional story” this is just a fictional story.



If a serious disaster requiring an evacuation during the weekend occurred
Would the AM/FM and TV Station in your area be able to get
Your message out to the public

You might be surprised to know the answer could be no?

By: Nick Markowitz Jr.
Fire Investigator  / Broadcast Engineer
nmarkowitz@earthlink.net

If during the weekend a train carrying hazardous materials were to rollover and crash and start leaking a toxic cloud in your town and you needed to get the word out thru the media that the whole town needed to evacuate along with residents up and down the valley were the accident occurred.
Would you be able to notify all the Radio and TV stations in the area to broadcast an emergency evacuation message for you?
Do not count on it.
As Radio stations merge and budgets get cut on air personalities actually working at the station and broadcasting are becoming thinner every day.
The vast majority of stations particularly in the smaller markets are using automation systems to allow the stations to be operated with no personnel on site. Sure you hear a disk jockey talking on the air but he is not there often times entire days of programming can be pre-recorded and then played at the appropriate time. We do it at the little 5K AM station were I work as the On-call Engineer. If you listen to our station you would think some one is in the studio when in realty the afternoon disk jockey came in the morning and voice tracked (recorded) his entire afternoon show which leaves him time to go out selling advertising.
So no one is at the station.
The FCC - Federal Communications Commission requires that stations be manned from
8:00 am to 5:00 Pm Monday thru Friday, which means a station, can be run by automation
All weekend.
But some stations still sound like some one is live from the station. Just another Radio Magic Trick often times stations are run completely by remote control from another state NYC and Chicago often have DJ’s sitting in massive studios who handle announcing for several stations at once over high speed computer lines you call the 800 number to enter the contest but the DJ is actually miles away who answers your call.
Then you have FM stations that can be operated over what is known as translators.
Similar to the repeaters we use for 2 way radios in the Fire Service
Translators rebroadcast signals from radio stations so they can penetrate into other market areas.
So if you have an emergency and called the local broadcasters on the weekend will some one answer you it all depends.
So what about the severe weather reports you hear on weekends how do they get out over the air?
 The majority of broadcasters are required to have what are known as EAS –Emergency Alert System receivers required by FEMA and at my station we monitor the local big AM station signal and an FM station and the NWS- National Weather Service. Any time one of the emergency transmissions alert signal is received we automatically rebroadcast them.
Our transmitters are set up to override the music were playing and broadcast the message.
So we can run automated and still get major emergency messages out.
But one big glitch to the whole system is getting the signal and being able to retransmit it.
Lets say that tanker that rolled over was during a storm and the power went out our little station like many other little stations have no back up generator.
When the massive black out hit the east coast this year only 60% of stations managed to stay on the air by back up generators or sending transmissions from back up tower sites.
The rest were off the air completely till the power came back on. And many that were able to stay on the air lost their high-speed phone lines, which means they did not receive national programs. Many more were operating at only half their normal power as well.
To help make sure messages get thru
The State Emergency agency PEMA starting this year will be providing all stations big and small
With Satellite based computer systems so stations can stay in constant 2 way contact with Harrisburg and eliminate the retransmission of emergency massages so they go out all at once and are always received. Because some times the atmosphere causes problems in receiving the EAS message at stations who retransmit it.
My station some times has problems not getting the EAS message because our 910AM
Signal is close to the 1020AM signal we monitor and our 910 signals over powers the 1020 signal. Satellites will hopefully eliminate all of the related problems with the EAS system. As well as Back up generators many stations are hoping to get funding for including the one I work for.
So knowing everything about why your emergency message may not get out
What can you do?
Contact your local broadcaster and find out how they broadcast emergency messages and if the station is manned all the time or not if they have a emergency number you can call to either get the message sent from the remote broadcast site if there programming originates out of state or if a Board Operator or Engineer can make an emergency trip to the station to give the message out.
This is one situation were assuming a resource is 100% available could come back and bite you. Pre planning is essential to make sure emergency’s are effectively handled.




Illiteracy 
It is a bigger problem then most experts
Want to admit.?
 it is a leading cause for accidents and injury’s ?
By Nick Markowitz Jr.
Fire Investigator

Did you ever go into McDonalds or Burger King etc. and when you see on the menus the picture of what you are getting and the numbered meals that is easy to order that it has a much more significant reason?
It is because of the high rate of illiteracy not only in Pa. But across the country.
And Illiteracy kills.
If you ever listen to CB=Citizen Band Radio some call it Children’s Band you here truck drivers asking for high way exit numbers. How many times myself and many times myself will answer back you want the such and such exit. The driver will answer back what’s the exit number. The reason and not to pick on Truck drivers is because there are many truck drivers who are illiterate and this is a known and sadly tragic fact. When you see the  undeserved stereotype dumb truck driver it is often because they are illiterate.  They know numbers can recognize certain road signs but if you say a community’s name they can not find that exit they drive by exit numbers and street names printed on there shipping papers.
Recently a Driver who came from Eastern Europe was sentenced to a long prison sentence after he ran a stop sign and killed a family in Butler County. When he was arrested an interpreter had to be called in to give him his rights. So the big question at the time was how did he get his CDL Commercial drivers License. Obviously some one helped him out and what is even scarier is the number of individuals who are driving hazardous loads who are not literate. If you cannot read the signs this is how accidents happen when flammable loads go thru tunnels when there not suppose to. This has been a very serious issue that has been known to the transportation industry and our government and the CDL was suppose to stop these types of drivers from getting the license but they are still being handed out by corrupt or apathetic officials.
Or take the case the other day were a painter painted all the heat detectors at my customers business there by rendering them useless. When the painter was confronted and will now pay for there replacement was asked did you not see the clearly worded?
Detectors saying do not paint. He said he did not see the printing. Was he being lazy and just painted every thing? No it ended up he could not read.
This is why more and more you are seeing symbols on instructions and products because of the illiteracy problem. I will never forget a  Castle and knights themed restaurant our family eat at while we were on vacation when I was a teenager the men’s and ladies rooms was marked Wenches and Cavaliers. You would be surprised the number of men and women who waited outside till a man or woman went into the appropriate side so they would not get embarrassed because they could either not read or had no idea what a wench or a cavalier was which any one who was in a history class should have known.
Do you know the difference between a Cavalier and a Wench .Which room would you have entered.
There is absolutely positively no reason in this country that our citizens cannot read and comprehend what they are reading..
As some one who suffers from Dyslexia you may notice it in my writing style but I knew I had a problem and got help for it. There are all types of free programs available to learn how to read and tutors who can work with any type of learning disability. All it takes is commitment by the individual who wants to learn how to read and write.
But instead of improving there skills they are content to live a life of dead end jobs or get by on there better paying job by using others to help them keep it thru various means and excuses. Many times when we think were being helpful we are actually empowering those who are illiterate and do not even realize it. When the pizza deliveryman hands some one the bill and the customer asks how much the pizza is instead of looking at the bill is it laziness are is it because they cannot read. Is the print really to small for some one to read or can they truly not read it.
If I suspect some one is illiterate  I will try to find out from them in private and then try and encourage them to get the help they need.
No one should have to go thru life this way. And many accidents and injury’s could be avoided when illiteracy is done away with.




IMPROPERLY MAINTAINED
FIRE ALARM SYSTEMS
AND SPRINKLER SYSTEMS
CATASTROPHES WAITING TO HAPPEN

Submitted By: Nick Markowitz Jr.
Volunteer Firefighter/ Alarm Systems Contractor

One of the most unfortunate things the Booming Economy has caused is the lack of properly trained Alarm and Sprinkler System Technicians.
Which has resulted in a whole new crop of improperly installed and improperly maintained Fire and sprinkler systems. And as Alarm Providers keep buying up smaller Alarm and Sprinkler Company’s and the bigger these company’s get the worse their service gets.
My own business has been steadily growing because of dissatisfaction of building owners with these large companies.
Recently I picked up 2 large customers, one being a large Chemical Manufacturer and the other a large 5 building School district, and in both cases you would think the level of concern of technicians would be high. Due to the potential for disaster at both these locations . However I found all of the many different systems improperly maintained and in some cases not working at all. In the school district I found sprinkler systems which had not been flow or annually tested for over 5 years. The water when I tested these systems ran black and gray putrid for 20+ minutes when opened .All of this debris I flushed from the systems could have had the potential for sprinkler heads Jamming and Water Flow Alerts not working. 
Then when it came to testing the Fire Alarm Systems in the schools ,again I found Smoke Detectors which had not been cleaned for many years, Alarm signals malfunctioning and not sound coordinated, battery packs corroded and split.and panels not sending required trouble signals and in The Middle school fuses were bypassed with jumpers in one panel, again a disaster in the making. Again many false fire alarms that did not have to happen. And the best part to this whole situation was the School district was paying nearly $1000.00 a year per building for system Preventive Maintenance Contracts
Which was to include annual cleaning and testing and they were not receiving it.
Plus the company providing the service was no little outfit like myself it was one of the largest Fire System Company’s in the country.
Now that I have taken over the systems and I am in the process of getting the systems up to 100% The false Alarms have been greatly reduced, and there have been few maintenance problems,
Then last month I picked up a large chemical plant which has large quantities
Of every chemical you can think including Methyl Ethyl bad stuff. Again I found a Fire System not working in some places and improperly installed for the most part, again a large company was being paid to maintain this system and was not doing its job. And again Firefighters were putting their lives on the line every time they answered a False Fire call.  Let alone the plant workers who would not know there was an Emergency in the plant as it is very large and isolated.
And worse of All the Technicians for the vast majority of these systems have been certified by NICET who sets the standards of how technicians are suppose to do there jobs, so they know there doing wrong and they still could care less it is not there company so there’s no skin off there backs if all hell breaks loose.
So then you would have to ask where was the code enforcement people responsible
To make sure these systems are being maintained properly.
Well they were aware of the problems but every year they would get the proper paper work the systems were being tested and maintained and because these systems were extremely complex it would take another technician to know if it was being maintained or not. Again we have the problem of technology getting way ahead of those responsible
To inspect it. And for any Fire Marshal or Code enforcement Officer doing there job it is difficult if not impossible because not only do they need to know Fire and sprinkler systems but Building construction codes, fire Prevention codes etc. etc.
And alarm company’s and technicians know they can pull the wool over Inspectors eyes
And get away with it.  Plus the way they write their contracts it is extremely hard to get any satisfaction from these companies.
Until those responsible for inspection of systems can receive the proper training
 So that they can apply and use both civil and criminal codes against those who abuse a
An Industry built on trust no none is Safe. No matter how new or old or well built a building is.



INDOOR USE ONLY MEANS
INDOORS ONLY
THIS GOES FOR FIRE ALARMS AS WELL

By: Nick Markowitz Jr.

Private Industry Fire Investigator
Member Emsworth VFD

Recently when I was contracted by an out of state Alarm Company to do work in a college town in southwest Pa. I came upon a situation which should never had been allowed to happen if truly qualified people were doing the work.
The apartments for students were designed were the pull stations; strobe horns and Annunciator were located either directly outdoors or in the atrium type breezeways
Which meant they were to be weather proof in design to meet the NFPA 72 requirement of
1-5.5.2.4 Equipment shall be installed in locations were conditions do not exceed the voltage, temperature and humidity limits specified in 1-5.5.1

Exception equipment specifically listed for use in locations were conditions can exceed the upper and lower limits of 1-
5.5.1

1-5.5.1 states Voltage, temperature and humidity variations.
Equipment shall be designed so that it is capable of performing its intended functions under the following conditions

1-      * at 85 % and at 110% of the name plate voltage
2-      At ambient temperatures of 32 degree and 120 F 
3-      At a relative humidity of 85 % and an ambient temperature of 86% F
 Clearly it goes below 32 degrees in Pa. during the winter and we get 100% humidity so indoor equipment should never have been used.

Yet it was not only installed but several inspectors passed it as ok to use. There was also
Emergency Light packs which were clearly labeled indoor use only being used outside and again passed all inspections.

I found a similar situation in Leechburg Pa.
Were the entire fire panel was installed in an entry way of an apartment building open to the weather.

I checked with the AHJ who showed me a stamped set of plans by an engineer that specked weather proof equipment but the contractor failed to follow plans and Engineer/Architect never followed up as well yet full inspection passing documents were given to the AHJ as being done properly.
Now all of this indoor only equipment will have to be replaced with weatherproof equipment to prevent malfunctions and possible fire when it comes to the emergency lights, which have a 120-volt power board.
This once again proves why we need statewide codes and trained competent AHJ or forget even implementing the codes because the same non sense is going to go on.







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