Building automation 路 Free
Fire Alarm and ELV Systems Design: NFPA 72 and BS 5839
Design fire alarm and ELV systems the way MEP consultants and contractors submit them: system types and loops, detector and call point layouts to NFPA 72 and BS 5839-1, sounders and strobes, battery and voltage drop calculations, the cause and effect matrix and its interfaces, drawings, testing and commissioning, then CCTV, access control, PA/VA and structured cabling.
Inside the course
From the lessons
Fire alarm systems and the codes that govern them
RealPars
Coverage and categories: deciding where detection goes
Daryll Fisher
Heat, beam, aspirating, flame and duct detectors
Irfan CFPS
Calculations: standby batteries, voltage drop and loop loading
Irfan CFPS
Drawings and submittals: layouts, risers and loop diagrams
The Prudent Engineer
ELV systems, structured cabling and CCTV design
Learn CCTV
Lesson frames belong to the creators named in the Credits below and are shown from YouTube.
What you will learn
Explain what a fire alarm system must do and which code family governs a project; choose between conventional, addressable and analogue addressable systems; pick a BS 5839-1 category or NFPA 72 coverage and zone a building; space smoke, heat and beam detectors, call points, sounders and strobes; size standby batteries and check notification circuit voltage drop; write a cause and effect matrix and specify its interfaces to sprinklers, HVAC, lifts and doors; draw layouts, risers and loop diagrams; plan testing, commissioning and maintenance; and design the CCTV, access control, PA/VA and structured cabling of an ELV package.
- Explain what a fire alarm system must do and how NFPA 72, BS 5839-1 and the EN 54 product standards divide the work
- Choose conventional, addressable or analogue addressable, and plan loops, isolators and pathway classes
- Pick a BS 5839-1 category or NFPA 72 coverage and zone a building against the area and search limits
- Space smoke, heat and beam detectors, call points, sounders and strobes to both code families
- Size standby batteries both ways and check notification circuit voltage drop and loop loading
- Write a cause and effect matrix and specify the interfaces to sprinklers, HVAC, lifts and escape doors
- Produce layouts, risers, loop diagrams and a submittal, then plan testing, commissioning and maintenance
- Design CCTV by pixel density, access control with fail-safe escape doors, PA/VA and the structured cabling under them
For you
Taking Fire Alarm and ELV Systems Design: NFPA 72 and BS 5839 from the United States
- Free in the United States, as everywhere, and self-paced: lessons, notes and the final assessment are open at any hour, so your time zone and shift pattern do not matter.
- The optional certificate for learners in the United States is a one-off US$23.99. What you get for it
- Plants across the Americas most often run Allen-Bradley, Siemens and Inductive Automation; each has its own free course to take next.
- See automation and engineering jobs in the United States, and what the industry looks like in Houston, Detroit and Chicago.
- EDWartens also has a regional site for the United States, for classroom training and local support: edwartens.com/us.
The course project 路 about 16 hours
Fire alarm and ELV design for a four-storey office: design basis, device schedule, calculations, cause and effect, CCTV and access control
Design the fire alarm and the security part of the ELV package for a four-storey office building as the MEP consultant's designer: fix the design basis and zones, lay out and schedule every device on two addressable loops, size the batteries and check the loops, write the cause and effect matrix, size the CCTV and access control, and plan commissioning. The sample pack shows each document for a building in Nairobi, Kenya, designed to BS 5839-1:2025.
Sample document pack, 6 documents, filled in for the scenario
- PlanFire alarm design basis and zone plan: Kilima House
- RegisterDevice schedule and loop allocation: Kilima House
- ReportCalculations: standby battery, loop loading and sound level
- Cause & effectCause and effect matrix: Kilima House fire alarm
- RegisterCCTV and access control schedule: Kilima House
- Commissioning procedureCommissioning checklist: fire alarm, CCTV and access control
Read inside the course and download as a workbook. The project is optional practice, marked when you submit it; the certificate needs only the modules and the final assessment.
Course content
13 modules 路 50 lessons 路 10h 56m
In order, at whatever pace suits you. Each module ends with a practice task that builds on the last.
- 01Fire alarm systems and the codes that govern them3 lessons33m
- 02System types: conventional, addressable and analogue addressable4 lessons57m
- 03Coverage and categories: deciding where detection goes3 lessons1h 31m
- 04Smoke detectors: types, siting and spacing6 lessons50m
- 05Heat, beam, aspirating, flame and duct detectors6 lessons51m
- 06Manual call points and notification appliances5 lessons1h 13m
- 07Calculations: standby batteries, voltage drop and loop loading4 lessons51m
- 08Cause and effect matrices and interfaces to other systems4 lessons1h 34m
Requirements
- Who it is for
- Beginner to intermediate. For electrical and MEP engineers, technicians and draughtsmen moving into fire alarm and ELV work. You should be comfortable with Ohm's law and a spreadsheet; no fire alarm experience is needed.
- Software
- A spreadsheet (LibreOffice Calc is free) for the calculation sheets, and LibreCAD, AutoCAD or squared paper for the layouts. NFPA offers free read-only online access to NFPA 72 after registration. What to download, and how
- Hardware
- None. Every exercise is done with a spreadsheet and a drawing tool or squared paper.
Software you need
What to download, where from, what it costs and how to install it. Every link goes to the maker's own site, never a mirror.
Nothing to install
A spreadsheet is enough for every calculation, and the layouts can be drawn by hand or in a free tool such as LibreCAD. AutoCAD is useful but optional. NFPA offers free read-only access to NFPA 72 online after registration.
Optional
Useful, not needed to finish the course.
- 01Free
LibreOffice
The Document Foundation
- Runs on
- Windows 10 or 11, macOS 11 or newer (Intel or Apple silicon), Linux
- Account
- None needed
- Size
- up to 1.5 GB of disk space on Windows
LibreOffice is free, open-source software under the Mozilla Public License 2.0, for any use including business. Calc is its spreadsheet.
Steps
- 1.Open the LibreOffice download page.
- 2.Check the page has picked your operating system, then select Download.
- 3.Run the installer (administrator rights are needed on Windows).
- 4.Start LibreOffice Calc for spreadsheet work.
- 5.Save as .xlsx if you need to share files with Excel users.
- Choose the latest main version unless your organisation asks for the older, more conservative release.
Official download pagelibreoffice.org - 02Free trial: 15 days
AutoCAD
Autodesk
- Runs on
- Windows 10 or 11 64-bit; AutoCAD for Mac on recent macOS versions
- Account
- A free Autodesk account
- Size
- about 10 GB of disk space for AutoCAD on Windows
The AutoCAD trial lasts 15 days in most regions (30 in a few), expires on its own and cannot be extended. Students and educators can get free one-year educational access through an Autodesk Education plan, renewable while they stay eligible; education licences are for learning only.
Steps
- 1.Open the AutoCAD free trial page on autodesk.com and select Download free trial.
- 2.Sign in to your Autodesk account, or create one.
- 3.Answer the short questions about how you will use AutoCAD.
- 4.Download the installer from your Autodesk account and run it.
- 5.Start AutoCAD and sign in with the same Autodesk account.
- If you are a student or teacher, use the Autodesk Education route instead: it lasts a year, not 15 days.
- Plan your practice before starting the trial, since it cannot be extended.
Official download pageautodesk.comAlternatives
- Autodesk Education plan: Free one-year access for verified students and educators, renewable while eligible.
- LibreCAD: Free open-source 2D CAD if you only need basic drafting practice.
Checked against each maker's own page on 27 September 2026. Trial lengths and editions change; the maker's page is the final word.
Fire Alarm and ELV Systems Design: NFPA 72 and BS 5839 at a glance
Fire Alarm and ELV Systems Design: NFPA 72 and BS 5839 is a free, self-paced online course from EDWartens for electrical and MEP engineers, technicians and draughtsmen at consultants, contractors and facility teams in the Gulf, India and worldwide who design, submit or maintain fire alarm and ELV systems. It has 13 modules and 10h 56m of video lessons by Irfan CFPS, The Platform - Fire Engineering, RealPars and others, with written notes and worked problems, a practical project with a document pack and a 15-question final assessment (pass mark 60%). Learning is free with an account; an optional certificate with a public verification code is issued when you pass. Last updated 27 September 2026.
All course factsHide course facts
- Price
- Free, for good. No trial, no card. The only paid item is the optional certificate, a small one-off fee.
- Who it is for
- Electrical and MEP engineers, technicians and draughtsmen at consultants, contractors and facility teams in the Gulf, India and worldwide who design, submit or maintain fire alarm and ELV systems
- Format
- 13 self-paced modules, 10h 56m of video, written notes, a practice task per module and one final assessment.
- Level
- Beginner. Beginner to intermediate. For electrical and MEP engineers, technicians and draughtsmen moving into fire alarm and ELV work. You should be comfortable with Ohm's law and a spreadsheet; no fire alarm experience is needed.
- Brand
- Vendor-neutral
- Software
- A spreadsheet (LibreOffice Calc is free) for the calculation sheets, and LibreCAD, AutoCAD or squared paper for the layouts. NFPA offers free read-only online access to NFPA 72 after registration.
- Hardware
- None. Every exercise is done with a spreadsheet and a drawing tool or squared paper.
- Certificate
- Optional EDWartens Certificate of Completion, verifiable by code. Not a vendor credential.
- Video lessons by
- Irfan CFPS, The Platform - Fire Engineering, RealPars, Fire Alarms and Such, Daryll Fisher, eFIXX, Dans the Engineer, Global Fire Strategies, All about Fire Protection, The Fire Alarm Expert, Wiring Diagram, Syracuse Time and Alarm, Serendib Training Qatar, The Prudent Engineer, ORR Protection, Learn CCTV, JVSG (video surveillance design apps), Infinite Storm, NM Cabling Solutions, Kantech, Schlage, L&P Renewable System Integrator (independent creators, credited below)
- Language
- English
- Last updated
- 27 September 2026
A shareable EDWartens certificate
Finish every module and pass the final assessment, and the optional EDWartens certificate is yours. It carries a unique verification code on a public page anyone can check, so it stands up when a recruiter looks it up. See it below.
The course itself stays free whether or not you ever buy one.
Stuck? Ask a practising engineer
A free course usually means a comment section and hope. This one does not. Every module has an Ask-your-trainer panel that reaches the same engineers who teach our paid programme: people who commission panels for a living, not moderators.
Pairs well with
FreePLC programming 路 FreeSiemens TIA PortalFrom zero electrical knowledge to a working, simulated S7-1200 program, for nothing.
FreePLC programming 路 FreeSiemens TIA Portal in Three HoursThe first three hours of the Siemens TIA Portal course, cut to end on a win: what a PLC is, how it is wired, a project configured in TIA Portal, and your first ladder program running in simulation. Finish it in an evening or two, earn a certificate, and carry straight on into the full course.
FreePLC programming 路 FreeTIA Portal: Build a MachineOne machine, start to finish. Take a bottle filling line from a written specification and an I/O list to a structured S7-1200 program with a fill station, a capper, a reject sorter and an operator screen with alarms, then test it against a written record and archive it for hand-over. The lessons are the reference; the machine is yours, and it is what you submit.
FreeInstrumentation 路 FreeInstrumentation for PLC EngineersThe half of the loop that is not code. Follow one measurement from the transmitter in the field, down the 4-20 mA loop, into the analog card, through NORM_X and SCALE_X into engineering units, out again to a valve, and back to the control room when the reading is wrong.More free courses: Free BMS and building automation courses
Learner reviews
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Reviews here are written only by learners who have finished every module of Fire Alarm and ELV Systems Design: NFPA 72 and BS 5839, and they are published exactly as written. Finish the course and yours will be the first.
Common questions
Who is this fire alarm and ELV design course for?
It is for electrical and MEP engineers, technicians and draughtsmen at consultants, contractors and facility teams who are moving into fire alarm and ELV work, and for anyone who has to check or maintain a fire alarm design. No fire alarm experience is needed; Ohm's law and a spreadsheet are enough to start.
Is the course free to learn?
Yes. Every module, the notes, the worked problems, the project and the final assessment are free, and the software it uses is free. The certificate is optional.
Which codes and standards does it follow?
NFPA 72 (2025 edition) and BS 5839-1:2025 side by side, with the EN 54 product standards, NEC Article 760 for wiring, EN 62676-4 for CCTV and the ISO/IEC 11801 and ANSI/TIA-568 cabling families. The notes explain the rules in their own words and never reproduce the standards; NFPA offers free read-only access to NFPA 72 online after registration.
Does it cover the rules in my country?
It teaches the two families most countries build on and how to read whichever one your project adopts. The United States and many other countries adopt NFPA 72 through their building codes; the UK and many Commonwealth countries use BS 5839-1; Europe uses EN 54 products with national rules. Other countries publish national standards and building codes of their own, and in the Gulf each civil defence authority publishes its own code and approves contractors and products. Local regulations and the authority always govern.
Can I design a real fire alarm system after this course?
You will be able to prepare a design pack that a senior engineer can review: layouts, schedules, calculations and a cause and effect matrix. Fire alarm systems are life safety systems, so a real design must be done or checked by a competent person under local regulations, and in many places only an approved or licensed designer or contractor may submit it.
Which software do I need?
A spreadsheet such as LibreOffice Calc for the calculations, and LibreCAD, AutoCAD or squared paper for the layouts. Nothing else needs to be installed.
How long does the Fire Alarm and ELV Systems Design: NFPA 72 and BS 5839 course take?
About 17 hours of video, notes and practice at your own pace, of which about 11 hours is video. The optional office building project takes about 16 hours more.
What certificate does the Fire Alarm and ELV Systems Design: NFPA 72 and BS 5839 course give?
An EDWartens certificate of completion, issued when you finish the modules and pass the 15-question final at 60 percent, with a number anyone can verify on our site. The course covers much of the knowledge that fire alarm exams such as NICET Fire Alarm Systems test, but it is not a NICET, NFPA or BSI certification or an authority approval, and none of them is affiliated with EDWartens.
What you walk away with
Your certificate for Fire Alarm and ELV Systems Design: NFPA 72 and BS 5839
Finish the course, pass the final, and this is the document with your name on it.
Verifiable by anyone
Adds to LinkedIn in one click
QR code on the certificate
Names what you can do
A permanent link
Earned, not attended
Learning is free. The certificate is optional.
Add it now and pay only when you have finished the course, or come back for it later. One-off, US$23.99, with a receipt.
Issued by EDWartens, the training division of Wartens, as a Certificate of Completion for this self-paced course. Sold by Wartens Ltd (England and Wales). It is not a vendor certification, a university award or a CPD-accredited activity, and it does not certify competence on live equipment. Delivered electronically; see the refund policy.
Credits
Who made the video lessons
The video lessons in this course were created by the people below, not by EDWartens. Every lesson streams from its creator's own YouTube channel; EDWartens neither hosts nor sells that footage, and the creators are not affiliated with EDWartens and do not endorse this course. What EDWartens wrote is the study plan, the notes, the practice tasks and the assessments.
- Irfan CFPSthe NFPA 72 lessons on the code, signals and circuits, schematic diagrams, smoke and heat detector spacing, beam detectors, pull stations, horns, strobes and battery calculations
- The Platform - Fire Engineeringthe fire alarm training course lectures on components, the panel and power supply, smoke detectors on flat, sloped and beamed ceilings, heat, beam and aspirating detectors, call points, notification devices, special areas and interfacing
- RealParsthe introduction to what a fire alarm system is and does, in the first module and as the recap in the final
- Fire Alarms and Suchthe difference between conventional and addressable fire alarm panels
- Daryll Fisherthe BS 5839-1:2025 system categories
- eFIXXchoosing between the life protection and property protection categories
- Dans the Engineerthe electrician's introduction to fire alarms and BS 5839-1
- Global Fire Strategieswhy BS 5839-1 detector spacing is what it is
- All about Fire Protectionthe battery and notification appliance voltage drop calculations, and inspection, testing and maintenance to NFPA 72
- The Fire Alarm Expertdevice spacing and circuit length basics, and how to test and inspect a fire alarm system
- Wiring Diagramwhat control and relay modules do in a fire alarm system
- Syracuse Time and Alarmthe elevator recall interface
- Serendib Training Qatarthe webinar on cause and effect matrices to NFPA 72
- The Prudent Engineerfire alarm layouts in AutoCAD: spacing rules, heat detectors, the panel and the SLC loop drawing
- ORR Protectionfire alarm inspection and testing best practice
- Learn CCTVthe basics of a CCTV system
- JVSG (video surveillance design apps)camera height, lens and pixel density in CCTV design
- Infinite Stormestimating and designing an IP CCTV network for an ELV package
- NM Cabling Solutionswhat structured cabling is and how it is organised
- Kantechthe basics of access control
- Schlagewired communication between readers, controllers and locks
- L&P Renewable System IntegratorPAVA design basics: zones, amplifiers, speakers and wiring
If you are one of these creators and would like a lesson removed or credited differently, write to info@wartens.com.