Your fire alarm is one of the most important parts of your fire safety system. If a fire were to break out, this is what’s going to alert everyone in the building that they need to evacuate. Yours may be a siren or bell only, or you may have additional components, such as strobe lights.
Whatever it is, this alarm needs to be inspected regularly, to ensure the safety of everyone in the building. Also, you need inspections to comply with NFPA 72.
So, what should you expect when you have a fire alarm inspection?
Who Should Inspect the Fire Alarm?
When it comes to your fire alarm, the inspection should be left to the experts. There are many parts to your alarm, and training is required to be able to inspect them, as well as identifying any problems. You may already have the assistance of a fire safety company at your business, but if you don’t, now is the time to hire one. They can offer in depth inspections, and ensure the safety of your employees and your building as well.
It’s also important to hire fire safety consultants, as they will have a deep working knowledge of the California fire safety code. This covers all sorts of things, from sprinkler systems to carbon monoxide detection. It also covers fire alarm systems, citing the type of system every different public building should have.
How Often Should the Alarm Be Inspected?
Like any mechanical system, a fire alarm will eventually break down, or have parts that stop working over time. This happens even with the best components and installation possible. That’s why it’s important to have it inspected, so this can be picked up on quickly.
Most fire safety companies recommend that your fire alarm system should be checked every six months to a year. This will help them pick up on any problems quickly, and replace any parts. That way, you should be covered if a fire does break out on property. Also, every two years you’ll need to arrange for smoke detection device sensitivity testing, to ensure they are still working correctly.
How Long Will the Inspection Take?
This is a difficult question to answer, as it depends on the size of your property. A smaller building may only take an hour or less to be fully inspected. Larger properties will take longer, as they may contain multiple buildings and larger, more complex systems. This can take anything up to a few days. If you’re not sure, ask your fire safety consultants, and they will be able to give you an estimate.
Alerting Your Employees
If you’re about to have a fire alarm inspection, you will need to let your employees know in advance. If you already have a good fire evacuation plan in place, they will know what to do in the event of the alarm sounding. As part of the inspection, the alarm will be sounded to ensure that it’s working as intended. They need to be aware of this, so they are ready for it to happen. Usually, this only takes a minute or two, so they shouldn’t need to act on it.
Again, it’s a good idea to talk to the fire safety consultants working on the system, and ask them what they’ll need to do while inspecting the system. They’ll let you know, and you can inform your staff so they will be prepared.
What Happens During a Fire Alarm Inspection?
Now you’ve booked your inspection and the team are here to check out your fire alarm, what will happen next?
Before the consultants even come to check your alarm, they will get in touch with the local fire department. It’s crucial they do this, as the system will be set up to alert them if the fire alarm goes off. If the fire department are aware, then there shouldn’t be any false alarms.
Next, they will come to your building and inspect every part of your fire alarm system, to ensure it’s working correctly. They are going to check everything, such as smoke and heat detectors, batteries, output relays and activations, supervised control valves and switches, and so on. Everything will be covered, to ensure that your employees will be safe in the event of a fire.
As they run the tests, they’ll set alarms off to ensure that they will sound properly in an emergency. They’ll run other tests too, so nothing will be missed. This is all according to the NFPA codes, so you’ll be up to code when they’re finished.
The team will also do things such as cleaning smoke detectors and heat actuating devices are tested. Once everything has been covered, you’ll then see they will create the appropriate paperwork to authenticate the inspection. Your consultants will often keep a copy, and give you one too for your own records. It’s important you keep this safe, as it will show that you’re up to code.
How Else Can Fire Consultancy Services Help You?
As mentioned earlier, it’s important to gain the services of fire consultancy services, if you haven’t already. There are lots of things they can do for your business to protect it from fire.
If you’re in the planning stages of creating a building for your business, they’ll work with architects and builders to create proper fire safety measures. This will include things like ensuring the proper fire exits are planned, as well as laying out a system for the fire alarm.
They will also do many other inspections and tests for you. This covers things like testing fire extinguishers, smoke alarms and so on. They can also offer fire safety training for staff. It’s vital you secure the services of a team now, to protect yourself from the risk of fire.
Conclusion
Now you know what is involved when you book a fire alarm inspection, and what it does to keep your business safe. Arrange yours now, to ensure your system is working as it should.
