Repost from the r/firealarms subreddit. Also for other technicians I really wish the newer helpers would just ask what the next step is instead of waiting for us to tell them what’s next.
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When you finally get a fire alarm control be like
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Another installer’s joke,
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My unpopular opinion: People disagree with me on this but unless it’s an EST type panel that uses mapping, addressable panels support T-Tapping and there’s no harm in using it unless the install truly calls for class A wiring.
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Or an additional code, standard, or federal criteria disallows it. UFC 3-600-01 specifically disallows T-tapping for DoD installs
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I don’t mind t-taps terribly, but I suppose my beef is when it’s a brand new install and already you have five spider taps. That, and a lot of technicians rely heavily on tap wiring, which, as you’ve stated, is fine in most Class B installs but it does make troubleshooting frustrating when you every junction box you open at the heavily renovated hospital is a spider tap. In other words, my opinion is that we shouldn’t rely on taps unless the deadline is close, and we really should wire a classic daisy chain whenever possible.
I’m finding that many techs’ go to method is taps, and that’s when I ask myself “Who trained them to do that? Have they had to find the ground fault at the hospital? Have they ever read a book on why that’s not a good idea?”. My boss hates me for this, but I’m the guy that will spend twenty minutes running the same wire twice on the one spool to ensure that my addition is daisy chained. I don’t want to see t-taps unless my boss said “btw this had to be done yesterday and the the fire inspector is arriving in ten minutes”.
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More reasons to not taps when possible. Some buildings will work against you, and you’ll have no choice but to accomplish the job with a tap. Sometimes, you’ll have to install multiple PAM relays for CO detectors and sounder bases, and some of those need to be wired true daisy chain to work right. The default habit should be to wire true daisy chain unless something comes up. Too many lazy techs rely on taps to get jobs done when they had more than enough time and wire to do a daisy chain.
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I do this all the time 
life gets busy with a full time career among other things
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This makes more sense than the other ones I have seen. Made with Google Drawings. Image of alarm and A-10 are not mine.
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Wow. You bought a panel on my birthday. Congratulations!
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My University took that a step forward by having an NH and an RSS separately… mounted right next to each other… 
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I guss It could sense the code violation . there is one like that at my school in the life skills room.
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