Glossary
Fire Alarm Technician Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential fire alarm technician terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key fire alarm technician vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in fire alarm technician training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Addressable system
- A system where each device has an address.
- Battery calculation
- Determining backup battery size.
- Central station
- A monitoring center that receives alarm signals.
- Conventional system
- A system with devices grouped in zones.
- Duct detector
- A smoke detector in HVAC ducts.
- End-of-line resistor
- A resistor that lets the panel supervise a circuit.
- FACP
- Fire alarm control panel.
- Ground fault
- An unintended connection to ground.
- Initiating device
- A device that starts an alarm, such as a smoke detector or pull station.
- NAC
- Notification appliance circuit.
- NFPA 72
- The National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code.
- Notification appliance
- Horns, strobes and speakers that warn occupants.
- SLC
- Signaling line circuit for addressable devices.
- Supervisory signal
- A signal for conditions such as a closed sprinkler valve.
- Trouble signal
- A signal that something is wrong with the system.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Fire Alarm Technician practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Fire Alarm Technician training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.