Why good maintenance matters

Poor maintenance of essential fire safety measures is one of the leading causes of delays in submitting an Annual Fire Safety Statement (AFSS), and delays in submission of an AFSS for your facility can be more than just a headache, they can incur real financial costs in the form of fines. If you need assistance in submitting a Stay of Infringement (SOI) contact Futura Fire to discuss options that suit your business requirements.

Is my Fire Detection and Alarm System being maintained correctly?

Maintenance of fire detection and alarm systems is governed by AS1851, but what does that mean? How can you tell if you are currently getting the service you are paying for? Here is a non-exhaustive look at some of the things your service contractor should be doing as part of their routine servicing.

Monthly

Every month your contractor should:

• Check the external alarm to ensure it works and indicates the correct building entrance

• Check the CIE to make sure its not damaged and is free of dust and other contaminants

• Ensure the manual call point has a tool and replacement element available

• Simulate an alarm and ensure the system activates and reacts appropriately

• Check the occupant warning system activates correctly, including visual warning devices

• Confirm that the isolation or disablement function works correctly

• Ensure zone block plans and baseline data are available and legible.

Six-monthly

Every six months your contractor should:

• Test the system logic and ensure that it complies with the approved design

• Test actuator circuits for faults and function

Yearly

Every year your contractor should:

• Test all manual call points

• Test all control operations on the fire panel

• Check all alarm and system currents

• Test detectors and ensure operation and correct indication

• Check the audibility of the occupant warning system throughout the building

• Inspect the battery condition

• Confirm the baseline data is accurate

• Survey the system and building to ensure there has been no damage or changes in operation

Five-yearly

Every five years your contractor should:

• Measure the impedance of speaker circuits

• Apply short circuits to the system to ensure that they do not prevent more than 40 detectors are disabled

• Check monitoring of fault conditions

• Check power supply supervision

• Test monitoring links