Regardless of your role in the fire protection industry, good documentation is essential. If you do something and it is not documented adequately, there is no proof anything was done. This certainly can have an effect on potential liability if something should happen and you were the last one testing or repairing the system and there is incomplete documentation. A chapter on documentation was added to NFPA 72, National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code, in the 2013 edition. 

Chapter 7 provides a great deal of useful information on documentation requirements for design, installation, job completion, testing and inspecting, and record maintenance. Be sure to take advantage of this chapter to help ensure you document correctly. Chapter 7 includes a detailed list of minimum required documentation for various stages of the life of the system (Section 7.2). Chapter 7 explains that the requirements for documentation are only applicable “where required by governing laws, codes, standards, or other parts of this code.” 

Regardless, providing documentation, even if not required, will help reduce any liability issues. If the entity you provide them to does not want it, at least you did your part. Be sure to keep copies of all documentation because you may need it someday.

The list of minimum required documentation used to also be in Section 907 of the International Building Code. It was removed in the 2018 edition to avoid conflicting requirements. Now they simply refer to NFPA 72. This list covers documentation requirements for all stages of the life of the system. It contains a number of items that should be included with your submission for plan review, including battery calculations, voltage drop calculations, manufacturer data sheets, design sound levels for new systems, strobe light candela ratings, sequence of operations and floor plan layouts showing locations of devices and appliances. This is a great checklist to ensure you provide all the required information.

System designs

If you are a designer, Section 7.3 contains excellent information for all aspects of design for the fire alarm system. This includes requirements for prescriptive and performance-based design. Some items include language that requires designers to provide enough information so installing contractors are able to meet the design criteria and code requirements. It includes requirements for acoustically distinguishable spaces, pathway class designations and pathway survivability level designations, both design and ambient sound level specifics, and specifying rooms that will and will not be required to have visual notification appliances installed. I think this makes the designers’ responsibilities much clearer.

Requirements and documents

Section 7.4 contains information on the installation requirements. They include details on what shop drawings, floor plan drawings, system riser diagrams and control unit diagrams must include. For example, the list of what is needed on floor plan drawings includes 17 different items. You must also include either a narrative description or a chart for the sequence of operation. The larger the project, the more important this is for the system’s programmer, installers and testing personnel. It is also useful during the acceptance test to ensure everything works together properly.

Section 7.5 contains information on completion documents. This would include as-built drawings, owners manuals, a record of completion and for software-based systems, a record copy of the site-specific software. If an emergency voice alarm system is installed, they clearly list what the owner’s manual must include.

Inspection, testing and maintenance documentation is included in Section 7.6. This includes a record of inspection and testing as well as a maintenance plan for network-connectable equipment that includes cybersecurity requirements.

Section 7.7 includes information on records, record retention and record maintenance. This section includes information about the length of time various records must be kept, how and where to store records, and information on access to them.

The last section, Section 7.8, includes copies of the records, including the record of completion and its supplementary records for emergency communications systems, power supplies, notification appliance power panels, interconnected systems and deviations from adopted codes and standards. It also includes the record of inspection and testing as well as all supplementary records. 

Chapter 7 has valuable information about documentation for all aspects of a life safety system. I highly recommend you and your staff get familiar with it.

stock.adobe.com / David