Memphis Housing Authority High Rise Fire Alarm Upgrades Questions from Contractors (Through Addendum #2) Communications Systems, Inc.: Legend 1. DL - Dome light symbol should be on the tenant emergency system. See revised sheet E0.1 in 2. B - Bell light symbol should be on the tenant emergency system. See revised sheet E0.1 in 3. PS - Pull string symbol should be on the tenant emergency system. See revised sheet E0.1 in 4. Horn / Strobe occupant notification device should be speaker/strobe. See revised sheet E0.1 in Drawing E1.1-BA 1. Flow and tamper switches on floors shown on demolition not shown on new plans. See revised sheets E1.1-BA and E1.2-BA in 2. Fire phone jack shown on 1 st Floor by FACP which has main fire phone in FACP. See revised sheet E1.1-BA in 3. Fire Pump Building not shown on prints/monitor points or tamper switches. See revised sheet E1.1-BA in 4. Solenoid valves and tampers not shown for elevator with stunt trips. See revised sheet E1.1-BA in 5. Elevator machine room in penthouse not shown with smoke detectors and recall relays. See revised sheet E1.2-BA in 6. Existing smoke on rear door of elevator #1 not shown on new drawing. See revised sheet E1.1-BA in
7. ADA units on 2 nd, 3 rd floor not shown for apartments 202,203,204,205,206,302,303,304,305,306. Shows one ada unit on floors 5-14 on new plans; shows apartments 513. See revised sheet E1.1-BA in Barry Homes, Borda Towers, Jefferson Square, Venson Center 1. Missing fire pump monitor and tamper switches. See revised sheets in 2. Missing elevator equipment room, smoke and heat detectors, recall relays, shunt trip relays, solenoid valves and tamper switches. See revised sheets in Barry Homes 1. Missing waterflow and tamper switches on all floors. See revised sheets E1.1-BA and E1.2-BA in 2. ADA units on floors 5-14 are on 2 nd and 3 rd floors; apartments 202-206, 302-306 and have smoke detectors in living room and bedroom. See revised sheet E1.1-BA in Borda Towers 1. Missing waterflow and tamper switches on all floors. See revised sheet E1.1-BO in Jefferson Square 1. Pull station in basement at service area exit not shown. (Exits on current fire alarm system). See revised sheet E1.1-JS in 2. Door holder shown on all doors on stairwells not shown on basement west stairwell. See revised sheet E1.1-BA in 3. ADA units on floors 2, 3 and 4 apartments 200, 201,215,216,212 and on 3 rd floor apt 300,312,315-317 and on the 4 th floor apt 400 and 401. See revised sheet E1.1-BA in Venson Center 1. Tamper switches shown but waterflow switches not shown on all floors. See revised sheets E1.1-VC and E1.2-VC in
2. ADA units on floors 2, 3 and 4 apartments 209-213 and on 3 rd floor apt 309,311,313 and on the 4 th floor apt 409,411, and 413. See revised sheet E1.1-VC in Barry Towers 1. Lobby pull station shown on E1.1-BA is in glass area along with speaker/strobe not enough room on frame to mount properly. See revised sheet E1.1-BA in 2. Magnetic door holders shown on floors 2 4, 5-14 on doors @ end of corridor do not exist. See revised sheets E1.1-BA and E1.2-BA in 3. Most of fire rating tags on doors and frames have been painted (problem with inspectors in past). Note: On all buildings. Provide new fire rating tags as required by inspector. 4. Strobe light on existing speaker/strobe not visible in elevator area on new plan. Add strobe. See revised sheet E1.1-BA in 5. Note: Doors on stairs floors 2-14 swing into stairwell on south end. See revised sheets E1.1-BA and E1.2-BA in 6. Pull station needs to be added floors 2-14(Distance Exceeds 200 ). See revised sheets E1.1-BA and E1.2-BA in Borda Towers 1. Door holders on north stairs open to breezeway (closed in wall on E1.1-Bo) Outside air exposed to sprinkler standpipe in stairwell on all floors. See revised sheet E1.1-BO in 2. Speaker/strobes in lobby has strobe blocked to lounge by wall shown on plan (A strobe is on lounge north wall existing). See revised sheet E1.1-BO in 3. Placement of fluorescent lights are a problem of placing smoke detectors @elevator and stairs on south end. Smoke detectors must be at least 3 feet from fixtures to prevent false data pulses from electronic ballasts. See revised sheet E0.1 in Jefferson Square 1. Door holders shown on doors to service area are to outside ramp from basement. See revised sheet E1.1-JS in
2. Door holder on mechanical room is to secure locked area where fire pump is located. See revised sheet E1.1-JS in 3. Door holder to basement stairs fire door not shown. See revised sheet E1.1-JS in 4. Fluorescent light fixtures are in proximity of smoke detectors on elevators 1 st floor. See revised sheet E0.1 in 5. Pull station shown is located on glass area with narrow partition by mail area exit (1 st floor). Move to nearest wall. Relocate pull station as required. 6. Speaker/strobes in dining area strobes are blocked (Existing strobes on storage wall and west wall). See revised sheet E1.1-JS in Venson Center 1. Fluorescent fixture location won t allow placing smoke detector as shown on floors to keep 3 data interference from ballast. See revised sheet E0.1 in 2. Door not as shown on stairs west end on left, not right? Need clarification. Does not affect bid price. 3. Trash chute rooms are where restrooms are shown on floors 2-11 on E1.1-VC and E1.2- VC. See revised sheets E1.1-VC and E1.2-VC in 4. Visual strobe (existing) laundry room not shown on floors 2-11. See revised sheets E1.1- VC and E1.2-VC in 5. Pull Station needs to be added on floors 2-11. Distance exceeds 200. See revised sheets E1.1-VC and E1.2-VC in 6. 1 st floor door on west swings to center of stairwell blocking exit. Not part of this contract. Does not affect bid price. Nichols Fire & Security: 1. Drawings state to re use existing raceways but specs say to keep the existing system online until the new system is approved by AHJ, there is no way to do this by re using raceways. See revised sheet E0.1 in Contractor shall provide all new
conduits and new wiring for new fire alarm system. Contractor shall not reuse any existing conduits or wiring. 2. Drawings show only one fire fighter jack at each elevator lobby, these are typically required at the stairwell doors also? See revised sheets in 3. The drawings show an annunciator next to the FACP is this required or an error? Annunciator should be located as required by Code. Shown next to FACP for reference. 4. Also, Jonathan E, Nichols Fire & Security was at the pre-bid conference. He was signed in and actually obtained a set of plans. Can we please have our name listed as an attendee? Name will be listed as requested. SimplexGrinnell: 1. Fireman s Phone Jacks.Should be located in each stairwell. Shown only at Elevators. Are the EP s shown on the plans the fireman s phone jacks, or are they actually area of refuge stations, which would be independent of the fire alarm. See revised sheets in 2. Smoke Detectors are not shown in all apts. Smokes should also be in Living Rooms and Bedrooms of larger apts. This will greatly increase the amount of smokes shown on the plans. See revised sheets in 3. Notifications devices seem inadequate in areas especially some upper floors. Visuals should be within 15 feet in end of corridors. (Borda for example) See revised sheets in 4. Just to clarify, Is the call system to be audio(talkback), or just a tone/visual system? The pull string station does not support audio. They are only shown in the bathrooms. The spec is just a little confusing when it talks about audio.however I do see where it calls for this to be a Visual Only System. System is tone / visual only. There is no talkback feature included in system. 5. Some of the buildings show tampers/flows. Some do not.is this accurate. Are only some of the buildings sprinklered? See revised sheets in
Tyco: 1. Time Frame Completion? Is there any way you might extend the 250 calendar days? According to our Engineers, there is no way to reuse the conduit and keep the existing system up and running until completion of the new system. That being said, running all new conduit is very time consuming and feel there is no way to complete 4 buildings in that time frame working on 1 building at a time. Time frame has been extended. See revised specifications in Addendum #2. 2. Can we work on multiple buildings at a time? Contractor s will only be allowed to work in one building at a time initially. 3. Is there a secured storage for our equipment on site at each building? There will be a lay down area available, but the contractor will be responsible for the security of all their materials. See specifications. 4. When working in the tenant units will there be specifying times that we can perform the work? Do we have to schedule the work with the MHA for each individual unit? A 72 hour notice is required before working in any of the tenants rooms. A schedule will have to be set up to let the tenants know when we will be working on their floor or room. 5. Will we be provided with a representative of the MHA to accompany us when we enter the tenant units? We want to make sure that we are covered against any fraudulent claims over property damage. A MHA representative will be available to let the contractors in the rooms and a sign off sheet will be made available for the tenants to sign off on once the contractor has left the room. 6. Is there an allowance for damaged ceiling tiles when demoing the existing fire alarm system? Or will that need to be included in the bid? A MHA representative will be available to let the contractors in the rooms and a sign off sheet will be made available for the tenants to sign off on once the contractor has left the room. State Systems, Inc.: 1. When working in the tenant units will there be specifying times that we can perform the work? Do we have to schedule the work with the MHA for each individual unit? Times will be Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. MHA will have a schedule of work coordinate with the building staff and contractors. 2. Will we be provided with a representative of the MHA to accompany us when we enter the tenant units? We want to make sure that we are covered against any fraudulent claims over property damage. The building engineer will be available throughout the duration of each job.
3. Is there an allowance for damaged ceiling tiles when demoing the existing fire alarm system? Or will that need to be included in the bid? See revised sheet E0.1 in Questions from Contractors (From Addendum #2 through Addendum #3) Siemens Industry, Inc.: 1. Does the Area of Rescue and Call Emergency system have to be in a FULL CONDUIT SYSTEM? If so this will really add an extreme cost to the bid. Please advise. Or can we using exiting conduit if applicable or conduit for the Riser (vertical) only? I do not see this addressed in the specs or the plans. If this can be verified at this time it would be much appreciative. See revised sketch E0.1-A in Addendum #3. 2. Addendum 2 plans Sheet E.01 shows Tenant Emergency System Connection to Bell There are no Bells showing on the drawings. We believe this was meant to say Connection to DL dome lite as these lights are shown on the drawings. Please Clarify. The symbol is featured on the demolition drawings for the existing bell system. There are no new bells on the drawings for the new fire alarm system. 3. It has been brought to my attention that Addendum 2 does not address the full intent of the Fire Alarm change out. Addendum 2 states that the New Fire Alarm system shall be in place, new wire, new conduit etc. fully operational system. We are not to use any of the existing Conduit/raceways/paths/back boxes/wire. Once approved by Local and State Inspectors then the DEMO of the existing Fire Alarm system can take place. This issue with this is that it does not address how the Sprinkler system will interface to the new system. You cannot interface or connect any of the Flows, tampers, PIV s and Fire Pump devices to the new Fire Alarm System as these devices are already connected to the existing Fire System. You cannot have the Sprinkler devices connected to the Existing and New System at the same time. This would also be the same issue with Duct Detectors but I do not believe there are any duct detectors on this project. Please let me know what the intent is on how to address the interface the Sprinkler devices to the new Fire System. See revised sketch E0.1-A in Addendum #3. Nichols Fire & Security: 1. Specifications require that Contractor must have been in business under their current name for a minimum of 10 years. Is there any flexibility with this requirement? MHA will accept bids from a contractor if they have been in the industry for a minimum of 10 years and can provide insurance and a bid bond as required.
State Systems, Inc.: 1. Thanks for your time this morning to hear my concerns over the specifications on the upcoming MHA 4 Building Bid Project. The specification of concern is on page E.01, Item #3 Fire Alarm Changeover-Sequence of Operations, #12 Contractor Shall Provide New Conduit and New Conductors For All New Fire Alarm Devices. Place Entire New System Into Operation Prior To Taking Existing Fire Alarm System Offline. New Fire Alarm Circuits Shall Not Be Loaded To More Than 70% Capacity To Allow For Additional Devices If Required By Fire Marshal. This note will cause the Memphis Housing Authority to spend additional funding that is not required. There are multiple vendors, that will be bidding on this project, that can utilize existing conduits. I would recommend changing this note. See revised sketch E0.1-A in Addendum #3. Questions from Contractors (From Addendum #3 to Addendum #4) SimplexGrinnell: 1. The drawings show a symbol for an Area of Rescue handset in the stairwells. This is a separate system from the fire alarm system. I do not see a spec for anything on the Area of Rescue. Since Area Rescue is a separate system, I don t see where it would go on the bid form, unless it is considered part of the fire alarm. The Area of Rescue would be an active two way voice system. The fire alarm system is a one way voice system aside from the fireman s phones. Can I please get some clarification on this? The sequence of operations includes a graphic workstation and a printer. Are these actual requirements for this project? See revised sketch E0.1-B in Addendum #4. 2. Are the graphic workstations and printers in the sequence of operations actual requirements? Yes, graphic workstations and printers are included in the project. 3. Is the area of refuge is indeed intended to be a separate system, as it is, where does it go on the bid form. Is it included in the fire alarm price? Yes, include the area of refuge systems in the fire alarm prices.