Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance
The core table
NFPA 72 Chapter 14 drives almost every ITM question. Table 14.4.3.2 sets initial acceptance and periodic frequencies by device and function; Table 14.4.5 scales reacceptance testing to the extent of the change after modification. Most initiating devices, notification appliances, and the fire alarm control unit are tested annually; valve supervisory switches are tested quarterly and waterflow switches semiannually, which is why those two appear so often as wrong-answer bait. Batteries are inspected monthly and tested annually.
Methods and qualifications
Acceptance testing verifies every initiating device, every notification appliance, and every control function, including interfaces to suppression, smoke control, and door holders, using the sequence of operations as the script. Smoke detector sensitivity must be checked within one year of installation and every alternate year thereafter. Duct detectors are tested with smoke or the manufacturer's listed method, and the airflow verification is part of acceptance. Testing is performed by qualified personnel and witnessed as the AHJ requires.
Records
A Record of Completion is produced at acceptance; the Record of Inspection and Testing documents ongoing work; both stay with the system documentation on site. Test records identify the device, the method, the result, and the person performing the work.
Traps
Confusing periodic with reacceptance testing; declaring a device tested when only the panel indication was observed; forgetting that a modified circuit requires both the changed devices and the affected control functions to be retested; omitting the notification appliance audibility and intelligibility checks from an acceptance test.
Rule of thumb
Acceptance equals every device plus every function. Periodic testing equals the table frequency. Reacceptance equals the change plus everything the change touches.