Dust on construction and demolition sites
Particulate levels at the boundary through the dusty phases of a job, with alerts to the site team while there is still time to damp down. The record answers a complaint with dates and figures.
Air quality monitoring tag
The ZARC air quality tag reports what is in the air, in real time, and alerts when a level you set is crossed. It is built to order around the pollutants that matter on your site: particulates, volatile organic compounds, nitrogen dioxide, ozone and others, one or several on the same tag. It runs on its own battery, needs no wiring and reports to a live dashboard with full history.
01
What it reports
Each tag is built with the sensing the site needs. Particulates are reported as PM1, PM2.5 and PM10 in micrograms per cubic metre. Gases and vapours, including volatile organic compounds, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, sulphur dioxide, ammonia and formaldehyde, are reported in parts per million or parts per billion as the sensor allows.
Readings are taken continuously and reported at the interval set for the site, down to every minute. Each report can carry the current value and the maximum, minimum and average for the interval, so a short spike between reports is not lost.
Air quality is a pattern, not a moment. The dashboard shows how each pollutant moves through the day and the week, and works out averages over the periods that guidelines and internal limits are written in.
Alerts can be set on a level, on a rate of rise, or on time spent above a limit, so a brief puff of dust does not page anyone and an hour above the line does.
This is complementary monitoring; it does not replace certified gas detection, a workplace exposure assessment by a competent person, or a regulatory instrument where one is specified.
02
Applications
Air quality problems are usually known about and rarely measured. The uses below are the common ones; the tag is built around whichever pollutants the site produces.
Workshops and production areas
Fume, dust and solvent vapour where people work. The trend shows whether extraction is doing its job and when it stopped.
Commercial kitchens
Particulates and vapour in and around kitchen extract, as evidence that filtration is working and for the neighbours when it is questioned.
Offices and classrooms
Volatile organic compounds after a fit-out, and particulates drawn in from outside. Paired with a carbon dioxide tag, it gives a full picture of the air people sit in.
Loading bays and roadside buildings
Nitrogen dioxide and particulates from vehicles, at the doors and inside the building they open into.
Waste, recycling and composting
Dust and ammonia on sites where both are part of the work, with a boundary record for the regulator and the neighbours.
Stores for paint, solvent and chemicals
A rising vapour level in a store that should read clean, reported before someone opens the door.
Healthcare and care settings
Particulates and vapours in the spaces that matter most to vulnerable people.
Collections and archives
Pollutants that attack paper, metal and pigment, recorded beside temperature and humidity.
Checking that ventilation works
Pollutant levels before and after a filter, or with a system on and off, as the plain measure of whether it is working.
03
Where it can go
The tag samples the air where it is fixed, so it goes where people breathe or where the pollutant is made. Typical positions:
At breathing height
On a wall in the working area, away from doors and supply grilles.
At the boundary
On fencing or hoarding facing the nearest neighbour.
Near the source
Beside the process, bay or store that produces the pollutant.
In extract and supply air
Either side of a filter or at a discharge point.
Outdoors
In a weather enclosure that still lets air reach the sensor.
In occupied rooms
High on a wall in classrooms, offices and wards.
04
In the dashboard
Every tag shows the live level of each pollutant it carries, with trends from the last hour to the last year. The dashboard works out the maximum, minimum and average over any period and the time spent above each limit. Sites and rooms sit side by side, so the worst is obvious. Records export for complaints, audits and environmental reports.
Limits are set per pollutant and per tag: level, rate of rise and duration. When one is crossed the alert is raised in real time and goes by email or SMS, and through an app where required, to the people you name, with escalation to further contacts.
- Live level for every pollutant on every tag
- Trend graphs from one hour to one year
- Averages over the periods your limits are written in
- Maximum, minimum and time above each limit
- Patterns by time of day and day of week
- Sites, rooms and boundaries compared side by side
- Limits set per pollutant and per tag
- Every alert logged with the reading that raised it
- Records exported for complaints and audits
- A tag that misses its reporting interval is flagged
05
Industries
Air quality tags are fitted wherever dust, fume or vapour is part of the work or the complaint, including:
Construction and temporary works
Dust at the boundary through demolition and groundworks.
Industrial and manufacturing
Fume, dust and solvent in production areas.
Facilities management
Air in occupied buildings across a portfolio.
Local government and public sector
Schools, depots and waste sites.
Healthcare
Wards, clinics and care settings.
Logistics and supply chain
Loading bays and warehouses with vehicles.
06
Technical specification
| Parameter | Specification |
|---|---|
| Measurement | Air quality, read continuously and reported in real time |
| Pollutants available | Particulates (PM1, PM2.5, PM10), volatile organic compounds, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, sulphur dioxide, ammonia, formaldehyde; others to the requirement |
| Sensors per tag | One or several, built to order |
| Units | Micrograms per cubic metre for particulates; ppm or ppb for gases and vapours |
| Sensing | Optical for particulates; gas sensor chosen to the pollutant |
| Values reported | Current level, maximum, minimum and average for each reporting interval |
| Range and accuracy | Specified to the requirement |
| Calibration | Sensors supplied calibrated by the sensor manufacturer |
| Sensor life | Stated for the sensor fitted; replacement planned at order |
| Reporting interval | Configurable, down to every minute |
| Limit alerts | Level above a limit you set, per pollutant |
| Trend alerts | Level rising at a rate you set |
| Duration alerts | Time above a limit, so a brief spike does not alarm |
| Alert delivery | Dashboard, email or SMS; app where required |
| Recipients | Named people and groups, with escalation to further contacts |
| Missed reports | A tag that misses its reporting interval is flagged in the dashboard |
| Gateway power loss | Raises its own platform alert |
| Dashboard | Live levels, trends, averages over set periods, max/min, time above limits; configured to your requirement |
| Records | Every reading and alert time-stamped and exportable |
| Data | Full reading history; UK-hosted or on servers on your own site |
| Power | Internal battery, up to five years as standard; longer with additional cells |
| Radio | 433 MHz, one-way (transmit only) |
| Radio range | Site-dependent; confirmed by site survey |
| Environment | Indoor or outdoor, enclosure specified to the location |
| Enclosure | Vented to the air it samples; standard or built to the site |
| Mounting | Wall, boundary, or beside the source |
| Not for | Life-safety gas detection, exposure assessment or zoned hazardous areas |
| Charges | No per-alert, per-user or licence charges |
| Manufacture | Made to order in the UK |
| Certification | CE marked |
07
From requirement to live alerts
Requirement
Tell us what is in the air and who it affects: dust, fume, vapour or a named gas. That decides which sensors each tag carries.
Configuration
Tags are built to order with the sensors, ranges, reporting interval and limits agreed for the site.
Fitting
Each tag is fixed where the air is to be sampled. No cable, and nothing connected to the plant.
Commissioning
Normal levels are recorded as the baseline, limits are set against them, and alert routes are tested.
Ready to get started? Every deployment begins with a site survey.
Book a site survey08
How it reports
Each reading goes over 433 MHz radio to a ZARC gateway and on to the dashboard, where limits and durations are checked and alerts are sent. The tag has a transmitter and no receiver, so nothing can reach it or change its settings over the air. A tag that stops reporting is flagged, so missing data is never read as clean air.
Related tags
Carbon dioxide (CO₂)
Ventilation and occupancy in the same room.
Differential air pressure
Whether the filter and fan are working.
Humidity
Moisture in the same air.
Temperature
The temperature the readings were taken at.
Questions we answer most.
What can the air quality tag measure?
Particulates (PM1, PM2.5 and PM10), volatile organic compounds, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, sulphur dioxide, ammonia and formaldehyde, with other pollutants built to the requirement.
Can one tag measure more than one pollutant?
Yes. Each tag is built to order with one or several sensors.
What units does it report in?
Micrograms per cubic metre for particulates, and parts per million or parts per billion for gases and vapours.
Can it alert on dust at a site boundary?
Yes. A limit, a rate of rise or a time above a limit raises an alert to the site team in real time.
Can the readings answer a complaint?
Yes. Every reading is time-stamped and exportable, with averages over the period in question.
Is it a certified gas detector?
No. It is complementary environmental monitoring and does not replace certified gas detection or an exposure assessment.
Who calibrates the sensors?
Sensors are supplied calibrated by the sensor manufacturer. Sensor life is stated for the sensor fitted.
Does it need power or a network?
No. It runs on an internal battery and reports by radio to a ZARC gateway.
How long does the battery last?
Up to five years as standard, and longer where additional cells are fitted.
Can it go outdoors?
Yes, in a weather enclosure that still lets air reach the sensor.
How often does it report?
At the interval set for the site, down to every minute.
Looking for something else?
We work with any sensor for any application.
Most sensing needs are met by a tag we already build, configured for your equipment. If yours needs a sensor or interface we don't list, we have the engineering to build it. Tell us what you need to measure, and we will tell you how we would do it.
Discuss your requirementDiscuss a monitoring
or alerting solution
Tell us what is happening on site, what you need to see, and the event you need to hear about. We will come back with the system that answers it.
Direct contact
Location
Venator House, Unit 9, 15-17 St Stephen's Road, Bournemouth
Dorset, BH2 6LA · VAT GB 409644484
Products contact
Contact the engineering team
Direct to the team that designs and builds the range. Tell us the equipment and the event that matters.