The Monument Building in the heart of the City of London is one of the current projects to use Bull Products latest Cygnus wireless alarm system during construction works.

Standing adjacent to The Monument, which marks the origin of the Great Fire of London, the new project being built by leading construction group Skanska, is a building which will comprise 94,000sqft, offering 88,000sqft of office accommodation with 4,000sqft of retail space. 

Designed by architect Ken Shuttleworth’s Make, the office accommodation is split over 10 floors with terraces at several levels.  The Monument Building is designed to achieve a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating and is scheduled for completion in Spring 2016.

Skanska has been using the Bull Products system since construction started last year.  The construction group recognised the benefits of the Cygnus wireless alarm system and specified some 26 units for installation across all 10 floors of the building project.  The Cygnus alarm system can link as many as 480 alarm and detector units in different zones on a construction site, and individual units can be fire alarm call points, first aid alerts, combined call points and first aid alerts, smoke detectors or heat detectors.

Claire McCormack, Health & Safety Manager at Skanska has been delighted with the performance of the system: “We found Cygnus to be a very good system, providing not just alarms but first aid points as well.  If an operator, say on level seven, hits the first aid button then we know exactly where to send help.  Also, if for instance a crane driver is unwell, then that person too can hit an emergency button to raise the alarm.”

Claire is also impressed with the flexible service that Bull Products provides, commenting: “As the whole system is reusable on future construction projects, it is a very sound investment and financially much better than hiring.  Also by purchasing the Cygnus system, Bull Products hold the units in stock on our behalf for us to call off when we require, and they also maintain the system for us”.

Intended purely for use on construction sites, the CE marked Cygnus system has been specifically designed for use in dense concrete and steel structured buildings and areas where there are many other radio frequencies in operation, and so particular attention has been given to achieving an impressive connection range.  Where there are multiple sites within range of each other, the Cygnus system has been designed to operate on different site addresses in order to keep each system separate and free from interference.

A major feature of the Cygnus system is the optional control panel which provides a very sophisticated capability with an event log function which records any events such as an alarm activation, low battery warning, and signal faults, all of which can be viewed if necessary in the history folder held on the panel.  The system also has the ability to test all units and has an evacuate function which will act as a call point to the rest of the alarm units.

Each unit in the system can provide the panel with information at regular intervals.  This explicit information confirms the unit is still present and what the battery status of each device is.  Known as the ‘heart beat’ this message is monitored by the control panel where fitted and if the ‘heart beat’ is not heard for several intervals, the control panel logs a full status for that unit.

A PIR option is now available on any of the modules which can detect an intruder and alert off-site personnel for added safety protection.

Bull Products offers a full one-year guarantee on all Cygnus devices and provides high levels of technical, on-site and after-sales service support in addition to its standard maintenance contracts.

Further information on the Cygnus wireless alarm system is available from Bull Products on 0844 669 1111, by emailing info@bullproducts.co.uk or by visiting the company’s website at www.bullproducts.co.uk