What is a manual call point?
A manual call point is the break-glass unit a person operates to raise the alarm. Call points are sited on escape routes and at final exits, so that anyone leaving passes one.
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<img src="https://fireoptix.co.uk/glossary/manual-call-point/diagram.svg" alt="manual call point — diagram from FireOptix" width="880" height="620" loading="lazy">
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<a href="https://fireoptix.co.uk/glossary/manual-call-point">What is a manual call point?</a> — diagram by
<a href="https://fireoptix.co.uk">FireOptix</a>
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</figure>Siting follows the logic of escape: someone who discovers a fire is going to leave, and the call point needs to be on the way out rather than back towards the fire.
They are tested in rotation so that every point is proved over a cycle, using a test key rather than by breaking the element. Testing the same convenient one every week proves one device and nothing about the rest.
Because they are at head height on escape routes, they get obstructed by the same things that obstruct the routes — coat racks, noticeboards, stacked deliveries.
In practice
A call point behind a coat stand.
It has been there for two years. Everybody who works on that floor knows where it is.
Call points are for people who do not know the building, and an obstructed one is found by the person least able to spare the time.
It is also the point nobody uses for the weekly test, which is how it stays hidden.
What goes wrong in practice
- The same point tested every week, leaving the rest unproven for years.
- Obstructed by furniture, signage or storage placed in front of them.
- Missing from a final exit added during a refurbishment.