The Hall of SHAME

These cameras had been installed quite a few years ago, so it’s possible that these lengths of conduit were once cable tied to the post. However, these cables were swinging in the wind. This will attract intruders because it makes the system look neglected.

This is common at supermarkets. Maglocks are used to stop theft in a non-compliant way. See if you can see what each circled issue is.

Aspirating Fire Alarms work by sampling the air, and is constantly sucking in surrounding air through these perforated pipes. This particular pipe has been installed quite questionably.

This PIR is not only miles away from the corner of the room, it also appears to have a sneaky cable junction behind it!

1. Call point mounted to a non-secured board 2. Cable broken in several places, repaired with insulation tape 3. Cable not secured to the wall (or by metal) 4. Cable on floor has been driven over by cars However, on a personal note, my particular favourite part is the sign next to it. “Peace of Mind” This call point was found in a popular car manufacturers centre.

After a new extension was built, the builders decided that, instead of rerouting some cabling and devices, they could instead get a ball of string and create a work of art. 1. Extension leads should not be plugged into other extension leads 2. Cabling should be supported by metal 3. Heavy metal boxes and power supplies should not be supported by string The most troubling part of this discovery is that it is above the entrance door of an junior school.

Data cable terminations should be kept as short as possible, and share the same wiring colours...

This is one of those photos where the longer you look, the worse it gets, so we shall start from left to right… 1. Woodblock on the door is not securely fixed 2. The armature plate has no movement, I assume this is why it is “fitted” on an angle. 3. Maglock is mounted at an interesting angle 4. Maglock is mounted using long wood screws through holes that were not intended for mounting, I imagine this voids the warranty… 5. Cable ‘entry’ is at the bottom 6. There is a custom fabricated metal bracket supporting the wood which needs its own sub-segment of questions 7. Just why? 8. The ZXtech camera, one can only assume that this well-known brand of CCTV was fitted by the same people. 9. Wood not sanded, might get a splinter 😂 If you pay someone to fit access control and they pull a length of 2 X 4 out of the van, I highly recommend you stop them and politely ask them to leave.

Instead of fitting a fused spur, to safely power this intruder alarm, someone has cut into an already spurred socket to power the panel. 1. No fused protection 2. No safe point of isolation 3. No cable entry protection 4. No earth sleeving This intruder alarm panel was found in a domestic property.

Fire alarms should be cabled in a particular fire rated cable which has a known burn time, so that the system stays live in a fire for as long as possible. The cable used here is ordinary T&E cable which has no burn time and is therefore not fit for use on a fire alarm detection circuit. This was found in a hotel.

This call point had no glass in it and the fire alarm was not going off. That means that the call point is faulty or has been disconnected. Very dangerous.

This camera was installed by a large company, who decided to spray paint the cameras themselves. The badly applied paint hasn't lasted long.

“Hello… I’m sorry, could you speak up a bit? Maybe, tighten cable tie two please”

This was a site wide modification performed by a caretaker to stop students pressing the emergency break glasses. Also meaning they couldn't be pressed in an emergency! This is NOT the solution.

The cables entering this fire alarm panel have been packed into 20mm holes with no rubber grommet. Eventually these cables could get cut by the sharp metal edges and damage the cabling.

Who Needs a Camera PSU when you can just shove 6 encapsulated PSUs in a box...

Here we have two clearly marked fire exits, but they do not have any manual call points adjacent to them. This is a variation against the recommendations of BS5839-1 and is potentially quite dangerous.

CCTV should NOT be fitted with junction boxes near the cameras. We see this way to often, its often associated with cheap installations. It is not the correct way to install a camera and opens up risks and potential for water ingress.

This fire alarm was fitted by an electrician. Can you spot what’s wrong with it? - No backup batteries. - Fault lights taped over. - Zone two has been doubled up. - Non fire rated flex powering the panel. - Large holes into the panel, with no cable protection. No backup batteries means that in the event of a power cut, the alarm would never sound. If the power was cut due to a fire, no one would be alerted. If there was a fault on the panel (other than the a battery fault) no one would ever know because the lights are covered over, and the speaker has been disconnected. Because zone two has been doubled up and an “End of Line” has been fitted to both legs, if a fault occurs on one of the two legs, or a device is removed, the panel wouldn’t be able to alert anyone of the fault. This panel was found in a hotel.

Fire alarm cable (and other cables) should be supported by metal fixings to prevent premature collapse in the event of a fire

This detector has clearly been involved in an accident, however the solution should never be sticky tape. This system is supposed to be a grade 3 system, and is monitored by the police. Which means it is the wrong type of detector and should be serviced every 6 months.

Bell has been spurred off, including non-fire-rated cable (flex!) This fire alarm was found in an assisted living home for the elderly.

This, potentially once neat, box has over the years been modified to suit upgrades, which have left it in a state. Extension leads, power supplies, unused cables all piled into the box like the till from “Open all Hours” This was found, in a school.

This camera has clearly been replaced. However instead of replacing the bracket to match the new camera, they decided to... not do that.

Unfortunately this switched fused spur was found in a brand new building. See below for a brief description of the reccomendations. Every isolator, switch and protective device that is capable of disconnecting the mains supply to the fire alarm system should be situated in a position inaccessible to unauthorized persons or be protected against unauthorized operation by persons without a special tool. NOTE 4 A special tool may, for example, be a key actuator (sometimes called "secret key") for a mains switch device. This circuit breaker can incorporate a switch if necessary but in either event should be labelled ‘FIRE ALARMS – DO NOT SWITCH OFF’