GB 14287.1-2014 is the controlling standard for the host unit (the "electrical fire monitoring equipment") of any compliant system, and it sits at the top of the GB 14287 family tree of cited standards [S1][S5]. The 2014 edition is still listed as the current status in the national standard registry [S5].
GB 14287.2-2014 covered residual-current (leakage) detectors and was officially replaced by GB 14287.2-2026, superseding the 2005 revision [S2]. A residual-current detector is defined in the standard as a device that monitors the change of residual current in the protected line, normally composed of a residual-current sensor and a signal-processing unit [S4].
The headline rule for 2026 procurement: the system architecture — host, detector, sensor — must be matched to GB 14287 family, and the detector class must match the hazard (leakage, hotspot, arcing). Anything that mixes classes without re-test is a non-starter for code-compliance jobs.
GB 14287 Family Map: What Each Part Governs
GB 14287.1-2014 is the host-equipment standard and acts as the parent reference for downstream detector and sensor parts of the family [S1][S5]. The English title reads "Electrical fire monitoring system — Part 1: Electrical fire monitoring equipment" [S5]. The standard is classified under fire alarm, alarm and fire dispatch systems (C81) and is referenced by product-manual documentation from Chinese fire-equipment OEMs such as Shanghai Jindun [S3].
GB 14287.2-2014 (now replaced by GB 14287.2-2026) is "Electrical fire monitoring system — Part 2: Residual current electrical fire monitoring detectors" [S2]. It defines the residual-current detector and a sub-class, the non-independent residual-current detector, which can detect leakage in the protected line and forward the information to the host equipment rather than acting as a stand-alone alarm [S4].
For a specifier, the practical takeaway is that a compliant system needs three coordinated building blocks: a GB 14287.1 host, a GB 14287.2 (2026 edition) leakage detector where leakage is the monitored quantity, and a matched sensor/probe. The wider electrical fire monitor category in industrial practice also includes temperature-sensing and arc-fault detector variants that sit in adjacent parts of the family.
Detector Classes: Leakage, Temperature, Arc-Fault — and When Each Fits
Residual-current detectors under GB 14287.2 monitor the change of residual current in the protected line and are typically built as a current transformer plus a signal-processing unit [S4]. They are the default pick for branch circuits where insulation degradation shows up as slow leakage to ground before a bolted fault.
Temperature-sensing detectors (often surface-mount or infrared probes on busbar joints) are used where leakage is not the dominant failure mode — think busway tap-offs, terminal blocks, MCC drawers. Arc-fault detectors are a separate class aimed at series and parallel arcing in conductors, which neither residual-current nor over-current devices reliably catch. A common spec mistake is to ask the leakage detector to do arc work; the physics don't line up and the trip signature is wrong.
For a panel builder, the selection rule is: leakage for cable runs with long leakage paths and high-impedance ground faults, temperature for bolted connections with finite contact resistance, arc-fault for cable bundles in plenums and IT racks. Mixing detector classes on one host is allowed under GB 14287.1 as long as each sub-system meets its own part-standard and the host's multi-channel architecture is declared in the manual [S1][S3].
Selection Criteria: Alarm Threshold, Bus Protocol, and Sensor Rating
Alarm threshold (the residual-current setpoint, in mA) is the first number to lock down. GB 14287.2-2014 set the framework that the 2026 replacement continues: a defined leakage band must trigger the host within a specified response time, and the threshold must be settable to suit the load [S2][S4]. Threshold too low and you nuisance-trip on benign computer-class leakage; too high and you lose early warning. The host unit under GB 14287.1 must display and record the alarm event, including the channel and the tripped value [S1][S5].
Bus protocol is the second decision. A modern host supports either a dedicated two-wire detector bus (common in Chinese GB 14287 implementations) or a building-system backhaul like Modbus RTU/TCP, BACnet, or a fire-alarm proprietary loop. The detector bus is constrained by GB 14287.2 cable and addressing rules; the backhaul is the specifier's call. Mixing the two without an explicit gateway declared in the host manual is a frequent compliance gap on retrofit jobs.
Sensor rating covers current range, voltage class, and environment. A residual-current sensor (CT) is sized to the line current — undersizing saturates the CT and you read near-zero leakage even during a real fault. For a tier-1 shopping-mall feeder, a 400 A sensor with the GB 14287.2 leakage class is a common pairing; for a data-center PDU side, 100 A with a lower trip threshold is more typical. For temperature probes, the rated surface temperature and lead length are the two numbers to confirm against the enclosure geometry.
System Topology: Host, Bus, Field Devices, and Power Supply
A GB 14287.1-compliant host is the brain of the system: it polls detectors on the bus, raises alarms, drives the local display, and forwards events to a fire alarm control panel or a building management system [S1][S5]. Jindun's product manual positions the host as part of an integrated fire-protection package that also includes fire door monitoring, gas fire control, and a fire power monitoring sub-system [S3].
The field side is built from GB 14287.2-compliant leakage detectors and, where applicable, temperature and arc-fault units, each on its declared channel. Non-independent leakage detectors (a defined sub-class) forward data to the host rather than raising a local alarm — useful for high-density distribution boards where a stand-alone sounder on every channel would be unmanageable [S4].
Power and wiring are the unglamorous decisions that bite at commissioning. The host needs a dedicated mains feed with a backup cell sized to the local fire-code hold-up time, and the detector bus needs the topology (daisy-chain, stub length, shield, termination) that the OEM manual specifies. For broader power-quality context, a parallel power monitoring system can be useful, but it is not a substitute for the GB 14287 fire-specific chain.
Who Should Specify What: Integrator vs End-User vs Panel Builder
An electrical integrator on a new build specifies a full GB 14287 stack: the GB 14287.1 host with a detector bus sized to the number of final circuits, GB 14287.2 leakage detectors on each distribution board, and temperature probes on busway joints. Documentation handed to the AHJ (authority having jurisdiction) includes host manual, detector certificates, and a loop diagram [S1][S3].
An end-user doing a retrofit on a working plant typically cannot pull new bus cable, so they spec a host that supports the existing two-wire topology and reuse the legacy detectors only if the GB 14287.2 edition is still valid for the project. Mixing a 2005-edition detector under a host that has been re-tested to the 2026 edition is a question for the OEM, not for the spec sheet.
A panel builder buys detectors as components and integrates them into their own MCC or distribution-board assembly. For them, the deciding spec is the detector's bus interface (address count per loop, baud rate, cable type) and whether the detector carries a separate CCCF mark for the fire-application. Skipping the fire-specific mark to save cost is the single most common compliance failure on export-bound panels. For a deeper selection pass on the adjacent host equipment, see the related Microprocessor Protection Relay Buying Guide: 2026 Spec Map and the Microprocessor Protection Relay vs Power Monitoring System: Spec-First Decision Map pieces.
Common Failure Modes and Procurement Pitfalls
First pitfall: specifying a generic earth-leakage relay instead of a GB 14287.2 detector. The relay will trip a contactor on a leakage threshold, but it does not carry the GB 14287.2 detector-class functions (alarm signalling back to the host, non-independent sub-class behaviour, the defined response-time band) and will not be accepted on a code-compliance job [S2][S4].
Second pitfall: assuming a 2014-edition detector is current. GB 14287.2-2014 was replaced by GB 14287.2-2026, and the 2005 edition is the one it superseded [S2]. A tender that names "GB 14287.2" without an edition is ambiguous; lock the edition in writing.
Third pitfall: ignoring the broader condition monitoring system context. An electrical fire monitor is a life-safety system, not a predictive-maintenance tool. If the requirement is to trend bearing vibration or motor current, the right product family is condition monitoring, not GB 14287. For hazardous-area plants, a separate explosion-proof electrical assessment runs in parallel and is not substituted by the fire monitor.
Fourth pitfall: underrating the CT. A residual-current sensor that saturates at the line's full load reads near zero for both healthy current and a real ground fault — and the host sees nothing. Specify the CT at the next standard frame size up from the line current, and confirm saturation current in writing.
Sourcing, Standards Anchors, and 2026 Trackable Signals
The controlling documents to anchor in any 2026 tender are GB 14287.1-2014 (host, current status per the SAMR registry) [S5] and GB 14287.2-2026 (the replacement edition of the leakage-detector standard) [S2]. For definitions, GB 14287.2-2014's text on the residual-current detector and the non-independent residual-current detector is the baseline vocabulary the 2026 edition inherits [S4].
For sourcing within China, OEM product manuals (e.g. Shanghai Jindun Fire Safety Equipment) describe the host as part of an integrated fire-protection line-up, with explicit references to GB 14287 family compliance [S3]. A useful pre-shipment check is to ask the vendor for the host's GB 14287.1 type-test report and each detector's GB 14287.2 (2026 edition) report, with report numbers traceable to a CNAS-accredited lab.
Trackable signals for the rest of 2026: (1) the GB 14287.2-2026 effective-date guidance and any transition window for the 2014 edition; (2) host firmware updates that add the 2026 detector-class identifiers; (3) any new CCCF implementation rules for the integrated fire-IoT platforms that wrap the GB 14287 host [S2][S3]. Lock the standard edition and the edition date into the purchase order — that single line item is what protects the panel at the next inspection.