A steam boiler safety checklist for the operator's round: the boiler room, gauge glass and blowdown, a low-water cutoff test, safety valves, gauges and pressure controls, burner, flame safeguard and fuel, feedwater and condensate, water treatment, the operating certificate and records, log readings, corrective actions and sign-off. For low- and high-pressure steam boilers.
Boiler and Check Details
Which boiler, what kind, and who is checking it.
This is the operator's or facility's own safety check. It does not replace the periodic inspection by an inspector authorised by your jurisdiction, or the work of a qualified boiler or burner technician.
Inspection Title
Building or plant
Address
Your Company
Checked by
Date
Time of the check
Kind of check — Shift or daily round, Weekly check, Monthly check, Before start-up after a shutdown, Other
Boiler number or name on site
Boiler manufacturer
State or jurisdiction boiler number
Pressure class — Low pressure — 15 psi or less, High pressure — above 15 psi, Not sure
Maximum allowable working pressure on the nameplate
Fuel — Natural gas, Propane, Fuel oil, Gas and oil (dual fuel), Electric, Biomass, Other
Boiler state during the check — Firing, Hot standby, Off and cold
Photo of the nameplate
Boiler Room
The room around the boiler, walked before you touch anything.
Is the boiler room kept closed to people who have no reason to be there? — Yes, No, N/A
Are the ways out of the room clear, and do the doors open from inside without a key? — Yes, No, N/A
Is the space around the boiler, burner and controls clear — no cardboard, paint, solvents or spare chemicals? — Yes, No, N/A
Are the combustion air openings open and unblocked, with louvres and dampers not shut? — Yes, No, N/A
Is the room free of any smell of gas, oil or flue gas? — Yes, No, N/A
Is there enough light to read every gauge, and does the emergency lighting work? — Yes, No, N/A
Is the floor dry and clean, with no slip or trip hazards near the boiler? — Yes, No, N/A
Is the emergency shutdown switch at the exit door, labelled and unobstructed? — Yes, No, N/A
Is a suitable fire extinguisher mounted near the door, charged and in date? — Yes, No, N/A
Is the flue connector sealed at its joints, supported, and free of rust-through or spillage marks? — Yes, No, N/A
Is insulation on pipes, valves and the breeching intact where people could touch hot surfaces? — Yes, No, N/A
Are start-up, shutdown and emergency procedures posted where the operator can see them? — Yes, No, N/A
Notes on the boiler room
Photographs — boiler room
Water Level and Blowdown
That the level you see is the level in the boiler, and the blowdown works.
Is the water visible in the gauge glass, at the normal operating level? — Yes, No, N/A
Is the glass clean and uncracked, with its guard fitted and the valves not leaking? — Yes, No, N/A
When the gauge glass was blown down, did the level drop and come back quickly? — Yes, No, N/A
Where try cocks are fitted, do they agree with the glass? — Yes, No, N/A
Was bottom blowdown carried out as the water treatment programme sets out? — Yes, No, N/A
Do the blowdown valves shut off fully afterward, with no water passing? — Yes, No, N/A
Does blowdown discharge into a blowdown tank or separator rather than straight to a drain? — Yes, No, N/A
Notes on water level and blowdown
Low-Water Cutoff Test
Proof, today, that the burner stops before the water gets too low.
If the burner does not shut off when the water reaches the cutoff level, shut the boiler down and keep it out of service until the cutoff is repaired.
How the cutoff was tested — Float chamber or probe column blown down while firing, Slow drain — level allowed to fall, Not tested on this check
Did the burner shut off when the water reached the cutoff level? — Yes, No, N/A
What happened, and has the boiler been taken out of service?
Where in the glass the cutoff tripped
Did the second (auxiliary) cutoff trip too, and need a manual reset where it is meant to? — Yes, No, N/A
Did the low-water alarm sound? — Yes, No, N/A
Did the feed pump or feed valve start at the right level and bring the water back? — Yes, No, N/A
After the test, did the burner relight and run normally once the level recovered? — Yes, No, N/A
Photographs — cutoff and gauge glass
Safety Valves
Free to lift, tight when closed, and discharging where it cannot hurt anyone.
Number of safety valves on this boiler
At normal pressure, are the safety valves free of steam leaking or weeping from the outlet? — Yes, No, N/A
Are the seals intact, with nothing — chains, wire, plugs, weights — holding a valve shut? — Yes, No, N/A
Is each valve's set pressure, on its tag, no higher than the boiler's maximum allowable working pressure? — Yes, No, N/A
Is each discharge pipe full size, supported on its own, and run to where steam cannot strike anyone? — Yes, No, N/A
Date of the last try-lever or pressure test
Is that test within the interval your insurer, manufacturer or site procedure sets? — Yes, No, N/A
Was a try-lever test done on this check?
Did the valve open cleanly and close tight again? — Yes, No, N/A
Photographs — safety valves and discharge
Gauges and Pressure Controls
What the gauges say, and whether the controls act on it.
Is steam pressure within the operating range, and well below the safety valve setting? — Yes, No, N/A
Is the pressure gauge fitted with a siphon and a valve to isolate it? — Yes, No, N/A
Has the pressure gauge been checked against a test gauge within your site's interval? — Yes, No, N/A
Does the operating control start and stop the burner at its set points? — Yes, No, N/A
Does the high-pressure limit lock the burner out and need a manual reset? — Yes, No, N/A
Where fitted, do the thermometers and stack temperature gauge read? — Yes, No, N/A
Notes on gauges and controls
Burner, Flame and Fuel
A proven flame, a tight fuel train and clean combustion.
Through the sight glass, is the flame steady and the right shape, without touching tubes or refractory? — Yes, No, N/A
When the flame was lost, did the flame safeguard shut off the fuel and lock out? — Yes, No, N/A
Does the burner purge the furnace before every light-off? — Yes, No, N/A
Is the fuel train free of leaks — no gas smell, no bubbles on a leak-test solution, no oil drips? — Yes, No, N/A
Is the manual fuel shut-off valve easy to reach and labelled? — Yes, No, N/A
Are gas or oil pressures at the burner within the range on its label? — Yes, No, N/A
Are regulator and valve vent lines run outdoors and capped against insects and rain? — Yes, No, N/A
Is there a carbon monoxide alarm in the boiler room, tested and within its replacement date? — Yes, No, N/A
Date of the last combustion analysis
Has the combustion analysis been done within the last year? — Yes, No, N/A
Notes on the burner and fuel
Photographs — burner and fuel train
Feedwater and Condensate
The water going in, and the condensate coming back.
Is the condensate or feed tank at its normal level, not overflowing or blowing live steam from the vent? — Yes, No, N/A
Do the feed pumps run without noise, overheating or leaking seals? — Yes, No, N/A
Are steam traps in the room working — no live steam blowing through to condensate or drain? — Yes, No, N/A
Is the make-up water use about normal for this plant? — Yes, No, N/A
Where there is a deaerator, are its pressure and temperature within range? — Yes, No, N/A
Do the feed line check valves hold, with no back-flow from the boiler? — Yes, No, N/A
Notes on feedwater and condensate
Water Treatment
What keeps scale and corrosion out of the boiler.
Is the chemical treatment log up to date? — Yes, No, N/A
Has the boiler water been tested as often as the treatment programme asks? — Yes, No, N/A
Were the latest results within the programme's control limits? — Yes, No, N/A
Where there is a softener, is the make-up water soft and the brine tank stocked with salt? — Yes, No, N/A
Is the chemical feed pump running and its supply tank not empty? — Yes, No, N/A
Are treatment chemicals labelled and bunded, with their safety data sheets to hand? — Yes, No, N/A
Photographs — treatment log and chemicals
Certificate and Records
The paperwork that says this boiler may run, and who runs it.
Is the operating certificate posted near the boiler and in date? — Yes, No, N/A
What is wrong with it, and who has been told?
Certificate expiry date
Date of the last inspection by the authorised inspector
Have the authorised inspector's last recommendations all been dealt with? — Yes, No, N/A
Is the boiler log being filled in on every round, with no unexplained gaps? — Yes, No, N/A
Is the person running the boiler trained on this plant and licensed where your jurisdiction requires it? — Yes, No, N/A
Has the burner and controls service been done by a qualified technician within its interval? — Yes, No, N/A
Photo of the posted certificate
Log Readings
The numbers for the log, so next week's check has something to compare against.
Steam pressure
Burner cuts in and out at
Water level in the glass
Stack temperature
Feedwater temperature
Boiler water conductivity or TDS
Make-up water meter
Fuel meter or tank level
Burner hours or cycle count
Result, Actions and Sign-Off
Whether the boiler stays in service, what happens next, and the signatures.
Can the boiler stay in service? — Yes — nothing to report, Yes — with the actions listed, No — taken out of service
Who was told, and how is it locked out?
Corrective actions
What needs doing
Exactly where
Priority — Before it fires again, Today, This week, At the next service
Owner — a person, not a department
Due by
Photo
Operator — signature
Chief engineer or facility manager — name
Chief engineer or facility manager — signature
Facilities Management
Steam Boiler Safety Checklist
A steam boiler safety checklist for the operator's round: the boiler room, gauge glass and blowdown, a low-water cutoff test, safety valves, gauges and pressure controls, burner, flame safeguard and fuel, feedwater and condensate, water treatment, the operating certificate and records, log readings, corrective actions and sign-off. For low- and high-pressure steam boilers.
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The boiler room is one stop on a wider round. For the rest of the building — roof, envelope, services and common areas — use: Building maintenance checklist
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A steam boiler safety checklist is the record of an operator's round of one boiler and the room it sits in: whether the water level is real, whether the low-water cutoff shuts the burner off, whether the safety valves are free to lift and discharge somewhere safe, whether the flame is proven and the fuel train is tight, and whether the paperwork on the wall is current. This template follows that round in the order you would walk it and ends with the readings for the log and a list of what needs fixing. Fill it in here and download it as a PDF, or speak while you walk, and the document writes itself.
Your check, not the statutory inspection
In most US states and in many other countries, a steam boiler has to be inspected at set intervals by an inspector commissioned or authorised by the jurisdiction — often the insurer's inspector — and an operating certificate is issued when it passes. That inspection, internal and external, is not something this form does or replaces.
What this form records is the facility's side of the bargain: the daily, weekly or monthly checks the owner and operator make between those inspections, so that the boiler arrives at its next inspection in a known condition and nothing dangerous develops unnoticed in the meantime. The form asks whether the certificate is posted and in date, and whether the authorised inspector's last recommendations have been dealt with.
Low-pressure or high-pressure
A steam boiler that operates at 15 psi or less is usually treated as low-pressure heating plant; above that it is high-pressure, and the rules on attendance, operator licensing and inspection intervals generally get stricter. The checks on this form apply to both, but how often you do them, and whether someone must be in attendance while the boiler fires, depends on the class and your jurisdiction. Record the class in the details so the next reader knows which rules apply.
The low-water cutoff is the check that matters most
A steam boiler that runs short of water and keeps firing can crack, bulge or fail violently. The low-water cutoff is the device that stops that from happening, and the only way to know it works is to make it work: by blowing down its float chamber or probe column while the burner is firing and watching the burner shut off, or by a slow-drain test that lets the level fall the way it would in real life.
The form asks whether the burner went off, at what level, and whether any second cutoff tripped and needed a manual reset. If the burner did not shut off, the right answer is to take the boiler out of service until the cutoff is repaired — the form asks what happened and who was told.
Readings that warn you early
A tick tells you a gauge worked today. A number, compared with last week's, tells you something is changing. The readings worth writing down on every round:
Steam pressure, and where the burner cuts in and out.
Stack (flue gas) temperature — a slow rise usually means scale on the water side or soot on the fire side.
Feedwater temperature and the make-up water meter — rising make-up means condensate is being lost.
Boiler water conductivity or the treatment test result, against the programme's limits.
Fuel meter and burner hours, so efficiency can be worked out over a month.
Common questions
How often should a steam boiler be checked?
Operators commonly make a short check every shift or day and a fuller one weekly or monthly, with the low-water cutoff tested on a set schedule. The right frequency depends on the boiler's pressure class, whether it is attended, the manufacturer's instructions, your insurer and your jurisdiction.
Does this checklist replace the annual boiler inspection?
No. Statutory inspections are carried out by an inspector authorised by the jurisdiction, who issues or renews the operating certificate. This form is the owner and operator's own check between those inspections.
Should I test the safety valve myself?
Look at it on every round — no leaks, nothing restraining it, discharge piped to a safe place. Whether the operator lifts the try lever, and how often, should follow the manufacturer, the insurer and your site procedure. Never adjust a safety valve's setting or remove its seal; that is work for a qualified valve repairer.
What does it mean if the gauge glass refills slowly after blowdown?
The connections to the glass may be partly blocked, which means the level you are seeing may not be the level in the boiler. Treat the reading as unreliable, and get the connections cleared before relying on the glass.
What should a boiler room safety walk include?
Clear access and exits, nothing combustible stored near the burner, open combustion air openings, good lighting, a marked emergency shutdown switch and fuel shut-off, a working carbon monoxide alarm, sound flue connections and intact insulation. The boiler room section of this form covers each one.