Federal Signal VALS Instructions D'installation page 5

I. UNDERWRITERS LABORATORIES WARNING EXPLANATION.
"Warning-Not to be used as a visual public mode alarm notification appliance"
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
Underwriters Laboratories uses two different standards to investigate and List visual signal appliances. The first UL
Standard for Safety is UL1971 - Signaling Devices for the Hearing Impaired. This standard covers visual signaling
devices intended for fire alarm systems to alert the hearing impaired. The second UL Standard for Safety is
UL1638 - Visual Signaling Appliances-Private Mode Emergency and General Utility Signaling. While this
standard may also cover visual signal appliances, it does not include the determination of adequacy relative to
alerting hearing-impaired individuals in a fire alarm system.
To prevent misapplication of a visual signal appliance Listed to UL1638, UL determined it is the manufacturer's
responsibility to warn the installer in the field and Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) of what would be an
inappropriate use of the product. Therefore, manufactures whose products Listed to UL1638 are required by
Underwriters Laboratories to bear the warning, "Warning - Not to be used as a visual public mode alarm
notification appliance".
"Public Operating Mode" and "Notification Appliance" as defined in the National Fire Alarm Code, NFPA 72 is as
follows:
Public Operating Mode - Audible or visible signaling to occupants or inhabitants of the area protected by the fire
alarm system.
Notification Appliance - A fire alarm system component such as a bell, horn, speaker, light, or text display that
provides audible, tactile, or visible outputs, or any combination thereof.
In other words, this device should not be used as a component of a commercial fire alarm system.
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