A Typical Fire Alarm Inspection by Red Star:

Fire alarm inspections are a critical part of keeping your building safe and compliant. At Red Star Inspections, we follow a structured, thorough process to ensure every component of your system is tested, documented, and functioning properly.

Here is what you can expect during a typical fire alarm inspection.

Arrival

  • Inspectors will check in with the site contact/tenant, depending on your building.
  • If it is our first time there, the inspectors will spend time locating and gathering information from the fire alarm panel before beginning testing.
  • Before testing the fire system, the inspector will contact the monitoring agency and/or local fire department to put the system in “test” mode, preventing the fire department from showing up unexpectedly.
  • The inspector gathers device and panel information for proper lists, identifying what needs to be disabled or bypassed to test without causing a major disturbance.  There will always be some noise, as the panel will beep, which is required by UL.
    Please expect noise during this inspection and test.

Testing

  • Once the inspector is satisfied, they will begin testing basic initiating devices, including, but not limited to: pull stations, sprinkler devices, smoke detectors, and heat detectors.
  • RSI will document the locations and functionality of each device while walking around the entire property. This process is intrusive because we need to check everything. The RSI inspector will also record counts of audio and visuals for their inspection report.
  • Once the initiating test is complete, we will conduct the audio-visual test. This is when we activate a full fire alarm and verify any auxiliary actions required, including, but not limited to: door releases, HVAC and fan shutdowns, and other items.

Completion

  • Inspectors will then restore the FACP to normal and double-check that nothing was overlooked.
  • The inspector will put the system back in service with the monitoring agency and/or local fire department.
  • Finally, the inspector will check in with any site contact that needs to be notified when testing and inspection are complete.