North Road Academy, an Islamic primary school in Stoke-on-Trent, had initially considered replacing its fire system outright. Following a site survey, specialist electrical contractor W R Fire & Security identified a narrower intervention: retain the building's existing conventional wiring and convert it into an addressable system using FastConvert, the conventional-to-addressable zone converter manufactured by C-TEC.
Three alternatives priced before the decision
According to the project account, three upgrade routes were examined before FastConvert was selected.
- New conventional panel: this would have allowed zones to be separated and additional zones created, but required extra cabling and would still have left the school with a conventional system able to report only zonal fire and fault information.
- Full re-cable: ruled out on budget grounds, with an estimated £10,000 addition for materials and labour, along with considerably more disruption and a longer installation programme.
- Converting the remaining six zones into loops: this would have added roughly a week of work for two engineers plus additional cabling and materials, at an estimated extra cost of £3,000 to £4,000.
FastConvert was the only route that sidestepped all three drawbacks at once, reusing the installed wiring while delivering a genuine loop-based addressable system rather than a conventional one, and doing so without the added cost, labour or disruption.
Two radials merged into a single loop
In execution, two existing radials were combined into one loop, with a dedicated two-loop panel installed to serve the converter. The legacy conventional installation was thereby brought up to an open-protocol CAST addressable system, which the company says is capable of lockdown alert functionality and internet connectivity, and can accommodate its CAST-PRO combined fire detection and alarm devices, which are designed to resist false alarms.
Contractor cites time, disruption and cost gains
Wayne Riley, managing director of W R Fire & Security, said the firm was impressed by the converter's capabilities and described it as the clear winner against a full re-wire or converting the remaining zones into loops. He put the project saving at approximately £3,500, with installation time, site disruption and labour costs all substantially reduced.
Riley also welcomed the CAST-PRO devices, arguing they are superior to other manufacturers' products because the sounder/VADs and multi-sensors are built into the heads, removing the need for separate sounder bases.
The case illustrates a retrofit pattern for older conventional fire systems in occupied buildings, where reusing installed cabling can shorten programmes and limit disruption while still delivering addressability. The cost and time figures cited are the contractor's own estimates for this project.