Watch the Video
Open the video in a new tab (What's New in FireCAD).
Overview
FireCAD has four new features that work together:
| Feature | Where to find it | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Project templates |
Create Project (ATCREATE_PROJECT) |
A complete sheet set laid out to the National CAD Standard, with a live sheet index and a reserved area in model space for every sheet |
| Project properties |
Create Project, then Edit Project Properties (ATEDIT_PROJECT_PROPERTIES) |
Occupancy in detail, every code and standard with its edition, references, a Basis of Design and a revision log |
| Submittal Builder |
Reports > Submittal Book (ATCREATE_SUBMITTAL) |
One PDF book: title page, Basis of Design, FireCAD reports, data sheets and fire marshal listings, in the order you choose |
| Design Assistant | ATDESIGN_ASSISTANT |
An AI fire alarm designer inside FireCAD that works on your drawing and your project |
This article covers each feature the way the video shows it: where to find it, what each part does, and what to check. The video then runs one project from start to finish. That walkthrough has its own playbook, A Project Start to Finish with the Design Assistant. For the full release notes, see FireCAD Update - What's New.
1. New Project Templates
The Template Gallery
Create Project opens the Project Creation Wizard. Its Drawing Templates gallery shows FireCAD's templates and the ones in your own templates folder, each with a preview. Pick one or more. A template (.dwt) becomes a new drawing named after the project; a drawing (.dwg) is copied as it is.
Three templates ship with FireCAD:
| Template | What it is |
|---|---|
| FireCAD Ember Level Training (ARCH expand D) | A fully built sample project: the Ember training floor plans on the new sheet set |
| FireCAD Project Template (ARCH expand D) | A blank sheet set on ARCH D sheets |
| FireCAD Project Template (ARCH expand E) | The same blank sheet set on ARCH E sheets |
Open My Templates Folder in the wizard opens the folder where your own templates live (see Save as My Template, below).
The Sheet Set
The sheets follow National CAD Standard numbering. The blank templates include:
| Sheet | Content |
|---|---|
| FA-000 | Cover sheet: project directory, building data, codes and the sheet index |
| FA-001 | Symbols, abbreviations and general notes |
| FA-100 | Site plan |
| FA-101 to FA-105 | Fire alarm plans: Levels 1 to 4 and the roof |
| FA-501 | Fire alarm details |
| FA-601 | Riser diagram |
| FA-602 | Battery and voltage drop calculations |
| FA-603 | Device and circuit schedules |
| FA-604 | Sequence of operations matrix |
The Ember sample uses FA-101 to FA-103 for its three floors and adds a second details sheet, FA-502.
Every sheet carries the same title strip: the logo, the project block, seven revision rows, the seal, an AHJ stamp and a key plan. The title strip fills in from the project properties, and the revision rows show the latest seven entries of the project's revision log.
The Live Sheet Index
The sheet index on the cover sheet is a FireCAD report. It lists one row per layout, in tab order, with the layout name as the sheet number and the sheet title from its title block. It refreshes on its own after layout commands and when a project drawing is saved. To refresh it by hand, run ATREFRESH_SHEET_INDEX.
Reserved Areas in Model Space
Behind the sheets, model space is organized too. Each sheet has a labelled area in model space, at that sheet's scale, that its viewport shows. The plans, the riser and every report have a known place. The area is a closed rectangle on layer FC-ZONE with a label on layer FC-ZONE-TEXT, such as "shown on layout FA-602".
Keep FireCAD content in model space. The sheets show it through their viewports. The Design Assistant uses these areas when it places plans, risers and reports.
Save Project As
ATSAVE_PROJECT_AS copies the open project into a new folder under a new name. Tick Save as a new revision to save it as the next revision of the job, with its Rev No., Date, By and Description.
- The project and its open drawings are saved first. Then everything in the project folder is copied, except backups.
- The copied drawings get new drawing IDs, so the copy is a separate project. Drawings named after the project take the new name.
- The original project closes and the new one opens, with the same drawings open. A new revision already shows in the title block.
Save as My Template
ATSAVE_AS_MY_TEMPLATE saves a copy of the current drawing as one of your own templates. Save the drawing first: the template is a copy of the saved file. Your templates go in Documents\FireCAD Templates unless you change the folder, and the wizard lists them under My templates.
Keep your changed templates here. FireCAD's own templates are replaced every time FireCAD is installed or updated.
2. Project Properties
The project now knows its occupancy in detail, every code and standard with the edition adopted where it is built, the references a performance-based design cites, a Basis of Design and its revision history. You fill them in on the wizard's properties step when you create the project, and change them later in Edit Project Properties (ATEDIT_PROJECT_PROPERTIES). See Editing Project Properties.
Occupancy and Project Information
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Project Type, Industry Type, Construction Type | As before |
| Occupancy Classification | The IBC occupancy group |
| Sub-group | New. Opens for groups that have sub-groups, for example I-2 for a skilled nursing facility. Groups B, E, M and U have none |
| Occupant Load | New. The number of occupants the building code calculates |
| Project Number, Contract Number | New |
| Project Address | Use Search Address to look it up. The address drives the code suggestions |
| Scope of Work | New. Up to 2,000 characters |
Codes and Standards
Codes and Standards replaces the old single code year. FireCAD suggests the documents that apply to the occupancy and the project's state and city, and you set the edition of each one.
- Always suggested: NFPA 72, NFPA 70 (the National Electrical Code), and the building and fire codes of the place. That is the ICC codes in most places, and the state or city's own codes in California, Florida and New York City.
- Healthcare (group I-2, or the Healthcare industry type) adds NFPA 99, NFPA 101, NFPA 110, the Joint Commission and the FGI Guidelines, and HCAI in California. The rest of group I adds NFPA 101.
- Accessibility: the ADA is suggested for every occupancy except R-3 and U.
A suggestion has no edition until you set one. Pick the edition adopted where the project is built, not the latest. For example, a facility under CMS is held to the 2012 editions of NFPA 101 (Life Safety Code) and NFPA 99 (Health Care Facilities Code). Each document takes its own edition, picked from the list or typed.
To add a document FireCAD did not suggest, use Add a code or standard: pick it from the list or type any other code, set its Edition and click Add. Remove takes a row out. A suggestion you remove stays removed.
The project's code editions are what the Design Assistant and FireCAD's design review check the design against, so set them before the layout.
References and Enhanced Language
For performance-based designs: the guidance the design cites beyond the codes, and a Basis of Design for the submittal.
- References lists the NFPA Annex, the NFPA 72 Handbook, the NFPA Fire Protection Handbook and the SFPE Handbook, each with its edition.
- Enhanced language: performance-based submittal. When it is on, the Design Assistant may use annex and handbook guidance, and says when it does. The Submittal Builder can add a Basis of Design page after the title page.
Basis of Design
The Design narrative (basis of design) explains why the design meets the intent of the code, especially where it relies on engineering judgment: high ceilings, high ambient light, corridor spacing. A complete one covers the scope, the occupancy, the codes, the system, power and testing.
Write it yourself, or ask the Design Assistant to draft it. Text the Design Assistant writes is marked as a draft: "Drafted by the Design Assistant. Review it before it goes in a submittal: you sign this, not the assistant." Read it, edit it, and click Mark as reviewed.
Revisions
The revision log lists every issued revision, oldest first, with No., Date, Description and By. It is editable. Add Revision adds the next revision number, dated today, and Save Project As can add one when it copies the job. The title block's revision rows show the latest seven. Keep descriptions short: the title block's description column fits about 20 characters.
3. Submittal Builder
The Submittal Builder puts the whole submittal in one PDF book. Open it from Reports > Submittal Book, or run ATCREATE_SUBMITTAL. The data sheet and CSFM listing features are covered in FireCAD Update - What's New. This update adds the Basis of Design page, report sections and part ordering.
Book Options
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Custom cover PDF | Your own cover, placed first: a web link, or a path on this computer or the network |
| Include FireCAD title page | The FireCAD title page |
| Include Basis of Design page | New. The project facts, its codes and editions, the references it cites and the design narrative, on a page after the title page |
| Include table of contents | A contents page with real page ranges |
| Show part / section counts on title page | A counts line on the title page |
| Include CSFM listing sheets | The California State Fire Marshal listing sheet after each part's data sheet |
| Open the book when complete | Opens the finished PDF in your default viewer |
Include Basis of Design page is available when the project has Enhanced language on and a design narrative. When it is greyed out, the builder says which of the two is missing.
Report Sections
New: any of 16 FireCAD reports can go in the book as sections, built from the drawing for the whole project. They come after the contents and before the data sheets. Use All or None, or tick them one at a time:
- Device Legend, Bill of Materials, Panel Summary, Cable Legend, Conduit Fill Schedule
- Battery Calculations
- Voltage Drop Summary and Voltage Drop Calculations (point to point)
- Lump Sum Voltage Drop Summary and Lump Sum Voltage Drop Calculations
- Device Schedule, Speaker Schedule Summary, Speaker Schedule
- dB Loss Summary and dB Loss Calculations
- Device Inspection Form
Part Order
The data sheets follow the order of the parts list. Select a part and use Move Up or Move Down, for example to put the panel first, or click Sort by Manufacturer to return to manufacturer and part number order. Untick Include to leave a part out. The order and every option are remembered for the project, so the next build starts where you left off.
The Draft Check
If the Basis of Design is still a Design Assistant draft that nobody has marked as reviewed, the build summary says so. Open Edit Project Properties, read the narrative, click Mark as reviewed, and build again.
What the Book Contains
- Your custom cover, if you chose one
- The FireCAD title page
- The Basis of Design
- The table of contents
- The reports you ticked
- Each part's data sheet, followed by its CSFM listing sheet if you included them, in the order you set
4. The Design Assistant
The Design Assistant is an AI fire alarm designer built into FireCAD. It works on your open drawing and your project. Run ATDESIGN_ASSISTANT to open its panel, and sign in the first time.
The Panel
- Conversations on the left. Every conversation is kept with the project. Use Search conversations to find one (in the video, typing "riser" finds the sheets conversation), and click it to read it again.
- The chat on the right. Type a request in plain language and press Enter. The panel shows each step as the Design Assistant works, and the drawing updates as it goes.
- Attach a file with the paperclip: a PDF, an image or a text file, such as a spec, AHJ comments, a data sheet or a marked-up plan.
- Run design review runs the Design Precheck on the open drawing and has the Design Assistant review the findings: code compliance by code and section, design recommendations and an overall status.
- New conversation starts fresh. Nothing in the drawing or the project changes.
When you reopen an old conversation and keep going, the Design Assistant starts fresh from there, and a banner says so. Restate anything it needs from the earlier requests.
What It Does
- Answers questions about FireCAD, the codes or the job.
- Sets up the project: fills in the project properties and the codes with their editions, and drafts the Basis of Design.
- Lays out devices: finds the rooms, picks parts from your system templates and the catalog, and places devices by code spacing and candela.
- Connects and checks the system: connects the circuits, addresses and wires them, and runs voltage drop, battery and speaker calculations.
- Builds the sheets: puts the riser, the schedules and the calculations on their sheets, inside each sheet's reserved area, and adds a continuation sheet when one is full.
- Reviews the design: runs FireCAD's design review and fixes what it finds when you ask.
You Stay in Charge
- It asks before engineering decisions. When a choice is yours, such as which circuit a floor uses or how to split a riser that is too tall for one sheet, it asks instead of guessing. Answer in the same conversation.
- It previews big changes. Ask it to "show me what you would place first" before a large layout.
- What it writes stays a draft until you review it. You sign the Basis of Design, not the assistant.
Credits
Design requests use credits. How many depends on the project: the size of the floor plan, the number of devices and circuits, and how much the Design Assistant has to read and check. Every answer shows the credits that request used. How-to questions about FireCAD are answered from the knowledge base and do not use design credits. For ways to keep credit use down, see the Credits section of A Project Start to Finish with the Design Assistant.
The Full Project in the Video
The second half of the video takes a three-story skilled nursing facility with a Fire-Lite voice evacuation system from a blank project to a reviewed submittal. Every step is a request typed to the Design Assistant:
- Properties and codes. One request describes the job. The Design Assistant fills in the project properties and the codes, drafts the Basis of Design, and the cover sheet fills in.
- Level 1. A conversation of its own: the panel, a second loop card and a voice console, detectors, pull stations at the exits and ceiling speaker strobes. It reads the floor plan, places and connects the devices, checks voltage drop and reports the loop and circuit loads against the spare capacity.
- Levels 2 and 3. One request covers both floors, with an amplifier for the upper floors and a power supply for the Level 3 strobes. At the end it asks three questions instead of guessing. The designer answers, and the Design Assistant applies the answers and saves.
- Report sheets. The calculations, the schedules, the legend and the bill of materials, each in its sheet's reserved area, with a continuation sheet when one is full.
- The riser. One riser sheet per SLC loop, then the notification and audio circuits. The audio riser is too tall for one sheet, so the Design Assistant offers ways to split it and the designer picks one.
- Design review. One button. The review recommends what is left: waterflow and tamper modules at the sprinkler riser, door holder relays, the HVAC shutdown and the communicator lines. The designer asks it to finish them. The modules go on every floor, the reports and risers update, and coverage and voltage drop are checked again. After the labels are tidied, the review passes every check.
- Basis of Design. The Design Assistant updates the narrative to describe the system as designed. The designer reads it in Edit Project Properties and marks it reviewed.
- Submittal. The Submittal Builder puts the reviewed Basis of Design, the reports and every data sheet in one book.
For the requests to type at each step, see A Project Start to Finish with the Design Assistant. Estimators can use the same tools for a bid: see Estimating a Job with the Design Assistant.
Related Articles
- A Project Start to Finish with the Design Assistant
- Estimating a Job with the Design Assistant
- Creating a New Project
- Editing Project Properties
- FireCAD Update - What's New
- Validating Your Design
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