ALBERT EINSTEIN’S GUIDE TO HOME SAFETY

There are many potential situations present in a home that can cause injury.  You don’t have to be Albert Einstein to recognize such hazards and take the necessary steps to eliminate them. The following is a list of a few of the more significant safety issues that we as engineers have identified in the more than 10,000 home and building inspections we’ve performed over the last two decades plus.   While the list does not include all of the possible safety concerns that may be present in your hom...
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SMOKE DETECTORS – A Matter of Life and Death

A smoke detector or smoke alarm is a device that detects smoke and issues an alarm to alert nearby people that there is a potential fire. A household smoke detector will typically be mounted in a disk shaped plastic enclosure about 150mm in diameter and 25mm thick, but the shape can vary by manufacturer. Because smoke rises, most detectors are mounted on the ceiling or on a wall near the ceiling. To avoid the nuisance of false alarms, most smoke detectors are mounted away from kitchens. To in...
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Life and Fire Safety – Let’s Get Serious

The Life Safety Code is an American set of standards involving hazards to human life. Governed and published by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the Life Safety Code is also known as NFPA101. Revised every four years, the Life Safety Code is a set of standards, mostly with regard to fire safety. History The Life Safety Code was originated in 1913 by the Committee on Safety to Life (one of the NFPA's more than 200 committees). As noted in the 1991 Life Safety Code Hand...
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