Inspection, Testing, Maintenance, and Documentation
The paper trail
NFPA 72 documentation includes the record of completion, as-built drawings, the sequence-of-operations matrix, battery and voltage-drop calculations, manufacturer instructions, and the owner's manual. Every acceptance test and every inspection, test, and maintenance event is recorded with date, device, method, result, and the person performing it. Records stay on site and are made available to the authority having jurisdiction, and the record of completion is revised whenever the system is modified.
Inspection versus testing
Inspection is visual: damage, obstruction, paint, missing devices, correct labeling. Testing is functional: actual smoke, heat, magnet, or manufacturer test method, verified at the panel and at the supervising station. Frequencies commonly applied include monthly visual inspection of the control unit and batteries, annual functional testing of smoke detectors, heat detectors, manual stations, duct detectors, notification appliances, and waterflow devices, and an annual battery load test. Smoke detector sensitivity is checked within one year of installation and at least every alternate year thereafter while readings remain within listed limits; a detector found out of limits is tested annually.
Doing it right
Notify the monitoring company and the AHJ before testing, test to the farthest device on each circuit, confirm annunciation and transmission, restore the system, and document. Impairments require notification and a fire watch where the code requires it.
Traps and example
Questions swap inspect and test, imply annual-only obligations, or skip the communicator test. Example: a building with 120 smoke detectors installed this year needs sensitivity checks now, then every two years while within limits.