Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance
What this domain covers
NFPA 72 Chapter 14: how inspection, testing, and maintenance differ, how often each component is addressed, how tests are performed and documented, and what happens when a system is impaired.
Core rules
- Inspection is visual (obstructions, damage, labeling). Testing is functional (does it operate?). Maintenance is repair or replacement.
- Frequencies come from the table in Chapter 14: annual functional testing of initiating devices; semiannual testing of notification appliances; annual system test including battery load test and off-premises signal verification; smoke detector sensitivity checked within one year of installation and periodically thereafter; duct detectors tested annually; control unit and battery inspections monthly.
- Test 100 percent of initiating devices and appliances during the annual test - sampling is not permitted.
- Notify the monitoring company and the building before testing; document as-found and as-left conditions, and retain records on site.
- Impairment: follow the fire code's impairment procedures, which may require a fire watch, notification of the authority, and a documented restoration time.
Worked example
Annual test of a sprinklered office building: verify panel and remote annunciator lamp/LCD test, then battery load test, then each pull station by key, each smoke detector with aerosol or manufacturer test method, duct detectors at the remote port, waterflow by opening the inspector's test valve and timing the alarm, tamper switches, notification appliances (audible and visual, all circuits), elevator recall and door-release functions, then the off-premises signal to the supervising station. Record each device pass/fail and any repair.
Traps that cost marks
Testing a representative sample; skipping the off-premises transmission test; failing to verify battery capacity under load; forgetting fire-safety functions; leaving the system impaired without a fire watch; producing a report with no as-found data.