Hochiki Europe has been specified for installation at St Andrew's stadium, home of the newly relegated Birmingham City Football Club.

Argus Services were appointed to install a new fire alarm system to protect staff, players and supporters from the dangers of fire at Championship side Birmingham FC. Argus Services Managing Director Jerry Matthews said: "Its old system was proving to be problem due to unwanted alarms, so rather than keep trying to repair obsolete equipment we advised that the only real solution was to install a new system. Having worked with Hochiki for many years we knew that their products would be perfect for this installation." The safety of spectators and staff is top priority after a number of high profile disasters, which have led to changes in legislation.

The installation required a BS5839 compliant category L4 addressable fire detection system based on Hochiki's Enhanced Systems Protocol (ESP). 84 call points, 59 base sounders, 33 sounder controllers, 25 mains relay output units, 45 multi-sensors and 321 optical smoke sensors, featuring Hochiki's High Performance Chamber Technology, were used in the installation. Mr Matthews commented: "The system at St Andrew's has been programmed with two modes - match day and non-match day. On match days there are no active sounders and the voice evacuation system is operated at these times."