A fire alarm inspection report is the record of one visit to look at, test and put back a building's fire alarm system: the control panel and its batteries, each detector and pull station that was tested, whether the alarm could be heard and seen everywhere, whether the signal reached the monitoring company, and whether the doors, fans and elevators did what they are meant to when the alarm went off. This template walks through a visit in that order and ends with what is still wrong, who is fixing it and by when. Fill it in here and download the report as a PDF, or speak while you walk, and the document writes itself.
What the report has to show
Whoever reads it next — the building owner, the fire marshal, an insurer, or the technician who comes in six months — needs to answer three questions from it without phoning you. What was tested, and how? What did not work? And what state was the system left in?
So the report names the system (panel make and model, number of zones or loops, the monitoring account), lists the devices tested by location rather than as a count, gives every failure a place and a note, and ends by saying whether the panel was normal when you left and whether anything is still out of service.
Inspection, testing and how much each visit covers
In the US, how a fire alarm system is inspected, tested and maintained is set out in NFPA 72, in whichever edition your state or city has adopted, and the local authority having jurisdiction has the final word. Some items are looked at often (the panel, the batteries, that nothing is blocking a detector); others are operated less often; and on many sites the devices are tested in rotation so that the whole system is covered over the year rather than on one visit.
That is why the form asks how much of the system was tested this visit, and which devices were left for next time. A report that quietly covers half the building reads as if it covered all of it. Check the edition and the frequencies that apply to your building before relying on any schedule; this form records what you did, it does not set the rules.
Before the first detector: putting the system on test
Most false fire department calls during maintenance happen in the first five minutes. Before any device is operated, the monitoring station should have the account on test, the occupants or building manager should know alarms will sound, and anyone whose equipment is interlocked — elevators, kitchen hoods, access control — should know what is about to happen.
The form asks for those calls first and asks again at the end whether the account was taken off test. A system left "on test" is a system nobody is watching.
Deficiency or impairment?
A deficiency is something that needs repair — a strobe that does not flash, a battery past its date — while the system still protects the building. An impairment is a part of the system that is out of service: a zone disabled, a panel that will not reset, a loop with an open circuit. Impairments need the owner told in writing and, very often, an interim measure such as a fire watch until the system is restored.
The form keeps the two apart. Every failure goes in the deficiency list; only when something is actually left out of service do the impairment questions appear.
In the UK: BS 5839-1
Outside the US the same job has a different shape. In the UK, BS 5839-1 expects the user to operate a different manual call point each week and log it, and a competent person to inspect and service the system periodically — typically at least every six months — with every device tested over the course of a year. The structure of this form still fits a periodic visit there; use your own terms for call points, sounders and the alarm receiving centre.
Common questions
How often does a fire alarm system need to be inspected?
It depends on the component and on the code edition your jurisdiction has adopted. Visual checks of the panel and power are frequent, many devices are tested yearly, and some items have their own intervals. Your local fire marshal or authority having jurisdiction can tell you which edition applies.
Who can carry out a fire alarm inspection?
Someone qualified and, in many states and cities, licensed or certified to work on fire alarm systems. Building staff can do routine visual checks, but testing that operates devices and interfaced equipment is normally left to a fire alarm technician. Record your qualification in the details section.
What should a fire alarm inspection report include?
The building and system details, who inspected it and when, what was tested and by what method, each failure and where it is, whether signals reached the monitoring station, what the interfaced systems did, anything left out of service, the condition the system was left in, and signatures from the technician and the owner's representative.
What happens if part of the system is left out of service?
That is an impairment. The owner should be told in writing, the monitoring station and fire department may need to be told, and an interim measure such as a fire watch is often required until it is fixed. The form asks each of those questions when you say something is still out of service.
Do I need to test every device on every visit?
Not always. Many sites test devices in rotation so the whole system is covered across the year. The form asks how much was covered this visit and which devices were not tested, so the next visit knows where to start.
Is this an official NFPA form?
No. It is a working template that records an inspection and test in the order the job is done. Whether a report satisfies your local requirements is for the authority having jurisdiction to decide, so check what they expect to see.