Trusted where the stakes are highest.

In a data hall, a false activation can cost more than the risk it was guarding against. That changes the design: high sensitivity aspirating detection to catch a problem while it is still a smoke signature, suppression that puts a fire out with no water near live equipment, and a cause and effect schedule written so one detector head cannot drop the load.

Galleries and museums have the same problem for a different reason. What is in the room cannot be replaced, and it cannot be soaked.

Public buildings get inspected by people who know exactly what they are looking at, and bought through procurement that runs to a documented standard. What matters here is paperwork discipline: certification that matches what is actually installed, a register that stands up to scrutiny, and a service history with no gaps in it.

Tender packs go out in the format the specifier asked for, not the format that suits us.

You cannot evacuate a ward the way you evacuate an office. Healthcare buildings rely on progressive horizontal evacuation, so detection has to be zoned to the compartment lines, and the alarm has to tell staff where the fire is rather than simply telling everyone to get out.

Because people sleep on these premises, the alarm is serviced four times a year whatever its size, and refuge communication is not an optional extra.

Schools combine high occupancy, a population that takes a bell literally, and long empty periods where a fire can develop with nobody in the building. In practice that means detection through circulation and plant areas as much as classrooms, and monitoring that covers holidays and weekends properly.

Servicing gets scheduled into mid term breaks. Nobody is drilling above a classroom in exam week.