4.1.24 – By Brad Shipp
In a recent article The Dangers of Swinger Shutdown, Jeff Zwirn recommended the alarm contractors not adopt the use of swinger shutdown in any alarm system installation.
I have the opposite view – here is why.
Alarm professionals need to focus their efforts to deter and detect actual break ins.
An assessment of the user’s goals and the alarm site’s vulnerabilities is always a good idea.
As the number of alarm systems in use has expanded and the demands on available public safety officers have increased, the need to avoid false dispatch requests has also increased.
Since the invention of alarm systems, we have come a long way in fine tuning our equipment and protocols to balance alarm system response with avoiding false dispatch requests.
Swinger shutdown is a recognized part of that evolution toward balance. Think twice before you abandon a valuable tool.
What is Swinger Shutdown?
Here is how the ANSI/SIA CP-01 Control Panel Standard defines it.
4.3.2. Swinger Shutdown
A programmable swinger shutdown shall be required for each burglary type zone, such that a programmable one to as many as six trip(s) shall shut down the zone. The zone shall be restored by a manual reset or may be reset automatically after eight (8) or more hours with no further trips on the zone. The default setting for this option shall be two trips for swinger shutdown.
NOTE: Zones disabled by swinger shutdown shall not transmit restoral signals until they are returned to service by either of the following events:
• After the panel is disarmed or:
• After disarming and then rearming.
NOTE: A Swinger Trouble code may be transmitted upon the occurrence of additional trips on the zone.
NOTE: Swinger shutdown may be disabled on any non-fire zone that does not require police response.
Why You Need Swinger Shutdown
- When a balloon is loose in a room, it moves around. Each time it moves the motion detectors are activated.
- When a door is not securely locked or is warped it sets off an alarm each time the wind blows or when someone pulls on the door.
- If an animal is loose in a room, it moves around. Each time it moves the motion detectors are activated.
- When the temperature in a room rises and falls it can set an alarm each time a change happens.
- When a loose wiring connection expands and contracts as the room changes it can generate multiple alarms.
- Multiple alarms can be activated when an alarm owner adds or changes curtains, furniture, a sign or display or redirects the HVAC vents.
What are the Benefits of Swinger Shutdown?
- It prevents multiple dispatch requests to alarms from faulty equipment or installation.
- When you request public safety to respond to multiple false alarms (especially over a short duration) it leads to the assumption that the system is faulty. This may eliminate or delay a response to an actual burglary and endanger officers who assume the alarm is false.
- Swinger shutdown only shuts down the one zone. All the other zones remain active. So it you designed the system with reasonable redundant coverage an intrusion can still be detected,
- Using swinger shutdown avoids multiple alarm dispatch requests (and the resulting fines) which makes the system more credible and effective.
Swinger Shutdown is a Recognized Best Practice
The ANSI/SIA CP-01 Control Panel Standard is a public safety and Industry best practice that recognizes the value of Swinger Shutdown.
- The False Alarm Reduction Association Model Ordinance requires alarm professionals to use panels that comply with the ANSI/SIA CP-01 Control Panel Standard.
- Several State laws (including Delaware, Mississippi & Texas) require compliance with the ANSI/SIA CP-01 Control Panel Standard.
- Multiple municipalities require compliance with the ANSI/SIA CP-01 Control Panel Standard.
What about UL and NFPA 72?
Swinger shutdown does not apply to fire zones, so NFPA 72 does not apply.
The vast majority of burglar alarm systems are NOT certified or listed. While the equipment is UL listed for safety, it is not required to be listed for effectiveness.
If you are installing a rare UL certificated system you may not be able to use swinger shutdown. But then again, in a certificated system, the responding keyholder would visit the site after each alarm and when they reset the system that would reset the swinger shutdown.
In any event, the swinger shutdown feature that complies with ANSI/SIA CP-01 Control Panel Standard gives you the flexibility to balance security with reduction of dispatch requests.
Conclusion
Swinger Shutdown is a valuable tool to reduce false dispatch requests. You have flexibility in how it is programmed to meet your customers’ needs.
Learn how to use it and why It was created before you throw it away based on uneducated advice.
Brad Shipp manages several associations including the False Alarm Reduction Association, National Electronic Security Alliance, Maryland Burglar and Fire Alarm Association and Texas Burglar and Fire Alarm Association. He has authored multiple certification and continuing education courses. He has been in the industry in a variety of roles for 50 years.