Our fire alarm testing and maintenance

Your fire alarm system may look like it´s fully operational. But looks can be deceiving. You can´t tell if your system is working properly because you haven´t experienced a recent alarm. And that means you may not know how (or even if) it will function until a real emergency occurs.

With our Fire Alarm System Testing and Inspection Program, you can be sure your system will provide the protection your building requires and your occupants expect. Plus, the State of Vermont as well as NFPA requires all fire alarm systems to be tested by a (TQP) technically qualified person. Our system testing and inspection service covers all fire alarm control equipment including voice evac, and alarm devices, including but not limited to pull stations, smoke detectors, heat detectors, duct detector including shutdown, elevator capture recall, and horn/strobes.

Beyond testing and inspection, we will provide preventive maintenance to expose problems before they result in system failures.

Our company is recognized as an industry leader with the expertise to professionally test, inspect and service all of our company-installed fire alarm systems as well as those from other suppliers. Contact us to schedule an appointment before you have to.

Fire Alarm System Testing Includes:

Preventive Maintenance includes:

Is your fire alarm system really being maintained?

Fire alarm systems are expected to help protect people, property, and assets. But you can´t tell if they´re fully operational just by looking at them. As with any other system, electronics and other components can degrade over time and compromise the system´s operation. Dust, dirt, and other contaminants can cause problems with smoke detectors. Such things as vandalism, remodeling, and improper maintenance procedures can also damage fire protection equipment. The good news is that with proper testing, inspection, and maintenance you can keep your fire alarm system at optimum operating performance. In addition to ensuring protection, keeping your system in good condition reduces expenses by preventing unbudgeted emergency repairs and costly false alarms.

Where to start. Knowing the system´s age and maintenance history helps you determine the steps you must take to maintain its operational readiness. Systems under five years old should require little effort to maintain. In systems so young, problems are usually due to marginal installation like improper grounding or environmental factors like voltage transients. Periodic system testing and inspection by qualified specialists can detect many such problems.

Systems between five and ten years old may experience component breakdown caused by harsh, but normal, environmental factors. Voltage fluctuations, temperature, and humidity may cause system failure or nuisance alarm problems.

Systems between ten and fifteen years old can still provide appropriate life-safety response. However, systems in this category need close attention, even with proper maintenance procedures in place. If the system has had a history of poor maintenance or none at all, it´s likely that failure of components and improper monitoring of system components will occur.

Systems approaching 20 years of age may be beyond their technological life expectancy. The system may continue to work satisfactorily if properly maintained, but you need testing and inspection by trained specialists to ensure proper system response will occur in an emergency.

The steps. The maintenance activities for fire alarm systems can be summed up in five steps.

  1. Test and calibrate alarm sensors, such as flame and smoke detectors, per manufacturer specifications. This requires knowing about the different sensors and their testing requirements, failure modes, and re-installation requirements.
  2. Simulate inputs and test the annunciators. This requires specific knowledge of the system under test.
  3. Set sensitivity. This requires an understanding of the particular system, the specific application, and fire detection theory.
  4. Coordinate with fire department to test the input to their system.
  5. Check the battery for corrosion and expiration date, then take appropriate action, if necessary.

These steps seem simple enough, provided you have the knowledge. However, that knowledge is useless if you don´t pay absolute attention to detail. Experience shows that maintenance technicians under pressure to keep production equipment running often overlook important details because ¨nothing is broken.¨