Safety Through Smoke Testing

McGill’s MEP Practice Area Provides Important Service to Hotels

McGill’s mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) practice area offers a variety of services that support the safety of our clients and their projects. Most recently, our team provided smoke testing to aid in the annual inspections for local luxury hotels in the Asheville area, including Hotel Indigo and Renaissance Asheville Hotel. These hotels trust McGill to perform these vital tasks for their facilities.

How Does Smoke Testing Work?

Through smoke testing, McGill’s MEP team is able to monitor the quality of fire alarms and smoke management systems to ensure everything is up to date and working properly, which takes place in designated pressurized stairwells. This process requires the activation of a test fire alarm and observation of the fan within the stairwell that prevent smoke from entering. Once this occurs, the team examines the outside air louvers to confirm equalization per the design. The process is then repeated with generator power, while still under a test alarm, then again with a second alarm with both standard and generator power, individually. If all goes well, the MEP team can proceed with passing the system for annual inspections with the local fire marshal.

The Importance of Smoke Testing

Though this work is often behind the scenes, smoke testing is important to ensure the safety of all who enter these buildings. McGill is committed to quality-driven services to all our clients, which includes thorough testing of safety features. Read more about our MEP practice area and some of their recent work with GE Aviation. You can also reach out to by emailing us at info@mcgillassociates.com.