A user of a computer aided design (CAD) system graphically places fire alarm appliances, such as smoke detectors and sirens, in a drawing area. After elements are placed and physical paths are determined, a series of electrical circuit connections between alarm source elements and alarm appliance elements are determined. Labels for alarm system device are automatically generated and automatically resequenced. Riser details may be generated in multiple formats. The system also allows standard CAD drawings to be imported into the alarm CAD system. This feature includes a gravitate command which automatically connects unconnected wire paths to the nearest alarm appliance. Circuit requirements can be listed with either a base unit, an appliance, or both. When both the base unit and the corresponding appliance have circuit requirements listed, the circuits are combined into a single listing.