NICET ITFAS Level II cheat sheet

Inspection and Testing of Fire Alarm Systems

• Testing follows NFPA 72 Chapter 14 (Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance); record results on a fire alarm system record of completion and inspection/test forms per the applicable tables.

• Acceptance testing is required for new systems and for modifications, repairs, or additions; the scope of retest is limited to affected devices plus verification that the system still functions as designed.

• Initiating devices must be tested at their installed location using a listed test method (smoke: aerosol/calibrated test smoke or manufacturer method; heat: listed heat source). Magnets or jumpers alone are not acceptable substitutes for smoke entry testing.

• Smoke detector sensitivity must be verified within the listed range (typically 0.5 to 4.0 percent per foot obscuration); detectors found outside the range must be cleaned, recalibrated, or replaced and retested.

• Notification appliance testing verifies audibility and intelligibility: sound pressure at least 15 dBA above average ambient or 5 dBA above maximum ambient (whichever is greater), and 10 dBA above ambient in sleeping areas with 520 Hz low-frequency requirements where adopted.

• Battery calculations must show capacity for 24 hours of standby plus 5 minutes of alarm (or 4 minutes for emergency voice systems where permitted); measure charging voltage and load-test batteries to confirm performance.

• Inspection frequency minimums: annual for most initiating devices, notification appliances, and control equipment; semiannual for supervising station and remote station functions; quarterly for batteries; monthly for certain supervising station and in-building fire emergency voice systems.

• Ground fault and open/short circuit conditions must be verified as annunciated at the control unit; test each initiating device circuit and notification appliance circuit for trouble response.

• Interconnected systems and releasing service circuits require testing of cross-zone logic, time delays, abort switches, and discharge verification; document each sequence step in the test record.