A brief history is in order due to the highly innovative concept and design of the REGARD® 7000F, and its truly disruptive technology. Traditional fire panels from even before the 2000’s were large red cabinets designed to NFPA 72 standards. These analog fire panels independently monitored smoke, heat, call points and suppression systems. PLC-based Process Safety Systems functioned to connect Process Automation (DCS) systems with ESD/ESS (Emergency Shutdown) systems.

But communication between the three types of systems was often complicated by protocol conversions, limited to analog inputs from the fire panel, and/or requiring custom software links in order for the customer to perform the necessary emergency responses to alarms on their facilities. Simpler, more integrated systems were direly needed to reduce cost and increase reliability, resulting in smooth interconnectivity for fire panel, SIS/ESD and DCS systems. The first edition of UL 864 was released in October, 1948 with the most recent “10th Edition” released in May, 2020.

Over the last decade the market was demanding an even more simple and reliable controller that could reduce the complexity and cost of the PLCs being used to monitor both NFPA 72 Fire panels and Safety Instrumented Systems without requiring a PLC. Programming PLCs in the field was just too expensive and time consuming. This is where the REGARD® 7000F comes in. It is a simple, menu-driven logic controller for both fire (NFPA 72) and safety (SIS/ESD) systems.