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Where There’s Smoke…Hopefully, There’s Butler Durrell

If you own or operate a commercial property, don’t mess around when it comes to the fire/life-safety system ― and the company you rely on for its installation and ongoing operation.

Whether it’s new commercial building construction, the renovation of an existing structure, or merely an upgrade of a legacy system, the deployment of fire/life-safety systems requires the services of a proven, trustworthy and highly skilled installation company.

Even more so than when engaging a security systems firm for intrusion detection (burglar alarm), access control (entrance/exit security) or video surveillance (cameras), fire equipment selection, system design, installation, testing and ongoing maintenance calls for the utmost in engineered professionalism, training, and experience.

Office Building Fire in St. Louis, MO

Life and fire safety systems are directly linked to mitigating property loss and damage due to fire, heat, and smoke ― and even lessening the incidence of injury and death to building occupants.

Additionally, there are also federal, state and local codes regulations that must be complied with in order for commercial facilities to meet approval and pass inspection with the local authority having jurisdiction, or AHJ (usually a fire marshal or agency representative).

Plus, there are also insurance implications, potential liability exposures and economic loss due to business interruptions hanging in the balance.

The bottom line is as the owner or manager of a commercial property, take no shortcuts in safeguarding the building, tenants, visitors, and businesses by enlisting a fire/life-safety systems provider you can count on.

You need to turn to a company like Butler Durrell Security of Wildwood, Mo., with a sterling track record and distinguished qualifications that set the company apart from competitors. The fire and security systems firm has spent decades securing residential and commercial customers of every variety in and around the greater St. Louis area.

As a leading provider of professional fire system designs since 1977, Butler Durrell meets the most stringent AHJ requirements by offering both Underwriters Laboratories (UL)-certified systems and monitoring by its UL-Listed central station.

Butler Durrell also standardizes on high quality, Honeywell-branded equipment, which is non-proprietary and affords customers the benefit of not being locked into a particular provider or product line. Few other providers possess the assured confidence in the high standard of their services to offer such flexibility.

The following profile highlights how Butler Durrell achieves superior results while continuing to add ongoing customer value to commercial fire projects.

Growing With The Customer

When a company’s performance is consistently outstanding, it tends to lead to the building of relationships with loyal, longtime customers. Such was the case when one of Butler Durrell’s clients needed to relocate its operations to a nearby building.

The company, which designs and manufactures industrial dyes and prototypes, contracted with its fire and security partner to install a new system in a newly renovated 45,000 square foot complex.

The interior of the single-story building consists of a huge manufacturing and warehouse area as well as an office. Wiring for all the systems, including fire, was concurrently run through the facility as an efficiency measure that saved the client both time and money. This underscores the advantages of working with a single-source provider such as Butler Durrell.

During the course of a week, a Butler Durrell specialist met with the manufacturing company’s owner on multiple occasions to gain intimate knowledge of the new facility’s layout design to ensure no oversights in fire system components required by the local AHJ. The primary code required in this particular jurisdiction was NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) 72 2010.

Ultimately, the owner was very pleased with the design and felt assured by the fire marshal’s approval. The fact that the new building was fully equipped with a sprinkler fire suppression system eased the electronic fire detection device requirements. If the structure had not been sprinkled, many more smoke and heat detectors would have been specified and installed.

Addressing All Areas

Commercial Fire System in St. Louis, MOAs mentioned earlier, Butler Durrell uses non-proprietary Honeywell products, a brand name synonymous with excellence in environmental controls.

In this case, the vendor’s Vista 128 addressable fire alarm control panel served as the “brains” of the solution. The addressable feature has the capability to do the following:

  • pinpoint the precise area of an alert generated by a smoke or heat sensing device
  • simplify installation because less cable was needed due to sharing a circuit
  • enable the system to be monitored via a fire cell radio communicator

The expandable system allowed Butler Durrell to monitor raised water flow, tamper, and trouble. The components of the expandable system included:

  • one keypad annunciator at the main entry
  • one exterior horn strobe
  • five interior horn strobes
  • four strobe-only units in the restrooms
  • pull station and smoke detector at the fire panel (per the local AHJ)

The height and need to work on a lift proved the biggest challenge with installing this fire system. However, with spotters on the ground and Butler Durrell’s extensive experience, safety comes first and the risk is minimized.

In all, partially due to the vastness of the interior workspace, the project took several weeks from start to finish, with technicians working weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Where the Project Ends, Peace of Mind Begins

Once completed, Butler Durrell’s techs fully explained system operations and procedures to the customer.

The client agreement includes maintenance and testing, with 24/7 service and monitoring by the firm’s UL central station (part of the requirement by the municipality of St. Louis). It also performs a daily test to the monitoring center, and in the event of any type of problem, the provider is notified immediately.

Per the contract, Butler Durrell will respond, repair or replace within hours of an issue. As an additional perk, the client received a special discount due to the monitoring of both its fire and security systems.

Like so many other satisfied customers, this manufacturer can now be assured that its employees, building, and contents are protected 24/7.

The employees are happy with the peace of mind knowing that they are safe during their workday. The company owner knows that with this system, any issue will be handled in an expedient, efficient, professional and personalized manner.

This all means less downtime should a fire occur, unlike a building without such protection ― and where the loss of property and lives could be catastrophic.

About Butler Durrell Security

Now in its second generation, Butler Durrell Security is a local family-operated company in the greater St. Louis area that is dedicated to providing the best value in fire and security systems design, installation and service for families and businesses.

Led by recognized industry leader and company President John Butler, the firm’s hallmark is personalized service that includes a 5-Diamond Central Monitoring Station, and expert technical repair and maintenance. Product offerings include fire detection, intrusion detection, access control, video surveillance, home controls and more. For more information, call 636-244-8791 or visit butlerdurrellsecurity.com