Revised CP-01 standard released

FRISCO, Texas—An unpopular control panel standard has been revised and SIAC said on Sept. 15, this newer, less restrictive standard should go a long way toward doing what it's supposed to—reduce false alarm dispatches.

The standard, ANSI/SIA CP-01, governs certain control panel functions and was designed to decrease false activations as a result of user and system errors. However, some dealers were reluctant to install the original CP-01 panel due to what were perceived as overly restrictive settings.

“Though accepted by the national companies and many of the largest regional and independent alarm companies, there was still a significant group of dealers that would not utilize CP-01 equipment due to the perceived limitations,” said SIAC executive director Stan Martin.

One of those perceived limitations included a previous mandatory communication delay setting on the control panel of 15 seconds. Dealers can now program a panel with a delay of zero, meaning the signal is sent to the central station with no delay. Another major change involves the setting of the swinger shutdown. This internal counter monitors the number of alarm activations by individual zone. The system is designed to bypass a particular zone after a certain number of activations. The original standard set the default threshold at one, meaning repeated sensor trips in a single zone would be ignored. The updated standard sets the default at two and allows the setting to go as high as six.

“The CP-01 panels have many features that greatly reduce user errors and reportable alarm conditions that are not valid for alarm dispatch,” Martin said. “A quick survey of manufacturers I contacted after the changes were approved indicated that the changes would now allow them to offer most if not all alarm panels with CP-01 … Everyone can now use these panels with total confidence.”