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How often does a fire alarm system need to be inspected?

Published · Compliance Binder

The short answer is annually, and the short answer is what gets people caught out, because NFPA 72 sets frequencies per component rather than per system. Several things are tested more often than once a year, and the fact that the annual visit happened does not mean the monthly items were done.

What runs on which clock

  • Annually: the full functional test of initiating devices, notification appliances, and the control panel. This is the visit that produces the certificate.
  • Semiannually: sealed lead-acid batteries, in most configurations. A dead standby battery is a common finding and an easy one.
  • Monthly: in many installations, a visual check of the panel for trouble signals. This is normally yours to do, not the vendor's, and it is the one nobody records.
  • On any change: reacceptance testing after work on the system, including work by other trades that disturbs a device.

The record, not the visit

NFPA 72 expects an inspection, testing and maintenance record showing what was tested, by whom, when, and the result. A line item on an invoice saying "fire alarm service" is not that. The document you want is the one that lists devices and outcomes, and it is the one the alarm company produces by default if you ask for it.

Ask for it every time. The most common version of this problem is not a missed test, it is a test that happened where the operator was never sent the report and has nothing to show two years later.

A restaurant specific trap

If your kitchen suppression system is interconnected with the fire alarm, and it usually is, then work on one can require reacceptance testing on the other. A suppression service visit that trips or bypasses an alarm circuit and leaves it that way is both a real hazard and an obvious finding. When both were serviced, keep both reports together.

This page describes what published standards say. It is not legal advice and it is not a determination about any premises. The requirements that apply to your building, including how often work must be done and what must be kept, are set by your authority having jurisdiction, which is usually your local fire marshal or health department. Where this page and your inspector disagree, your inspector is right.

Keeping this straight without thinking about it

One visit can produce a suppression report and an alarm report from two different companies. Binder files each against the equipment it covers and tracks the next date for both, so a system tested on a different clock from the rest does not quietly slip.

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