I have written before about the value of fire alarm system inspection, testing and maintenance (ITM) contracts. ITM contracts provide recurring revenue and no-bid work for system upgrades and replacements. I have also stressed the importance of the service technician’s competence.

Soft skills

A service tech should represent corporate goals and ideals and must continually convince customers that they have their best interests at heart.

As the customer­-facing person, many articles have been written on the importance of the service tech. For more on this topic, see “A Wonder Drug for Service Electricians,” the Service/ Maintenance column in the February 2023 issue of ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR. In that article, the writers argue that compassion is an essential trait of a qualified service technician, and good ones take ownership of customers and enjoy fixing their electrical problems.

Business author Harvey Mackay (“Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive”) also promotes compassion, even if not specifically to service technicians. He is convinced that without compassion, you will lose customers quickly. 

Soft skills are often overlooked when trying to decide who should be the lead technicians, and certainly none of these skills are discussed in NFPA 72, National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code, the National Electrical Code or OSHA requirements. 

Licensed may not mean qualified

NFPA 70E does define a qualified person as, “One who has demonstrated skills and knowledge related to the construction and operation of electrical equipment and installations and has received safety training to identify the hazards and reduce the associated risk.”

NFPA 72 states that testing personnel “shall have knowledge and experience of the testing requirements contained in this code, of the equipment being tested, and of the test methods. That knowledge and experience shall be acceptable to the authority having jurisdiction or meet the requirement of Section 10.5.3.4.” 

Section 10.5.3.4 adds, “Qualified personnel shall include, but not be limited to, one or more of the following:

1. Personnel who are factory trained and certified for the specific type and brand of system being serviced
2. Personnel who are certified by a nationally recognized certification organization acceptable to the authority having jurisdiction
3. Personnel who are registered, licensed, or certified by a state or local authority to perform service on systems addressed within the scope of this code, either individually or through their affiliation with an organization
4. Personnel who are employed and qualified by an organization listed by a nationally recognized testing laboratory for the servicing of systems within the scope of this code.”

And, of course, NFPA 72 requires evidence of a technician’s qualifications be provided to the authority having jurisdiction. Remember that having a license does not necessarily indicate the licensee is qualified.

Fire alarm specific

Typically, technicians have a good background in the electrical code and installations. If you plan to provide ITM services for fire alarms, then techs should become factory-trained on the individual fire alarm systems you will install and work on (item 1 above), and this training could be provided by the equipment supplier used in installations. If you perform ITM services on systems not installed by you, be careful to ensure your techs are trained on the specific equipment they will encounter.

NFPA 72 does not require factory training or special certification for technicians performing simple inspections or operational tests of initiating devices, provided they demonstrate knowledge in these areas. 

However, when techs need to replace an inoperative device, they need access to replacement equipment and understand the system requirements. One way to ensure you don’t get in trouble with systems you did not originally install is to maintain relationships with the equipment suppliers involved to ensure access to replacement equipment and programming assistance.

Remember that once a system or a change to one has been accepted, the inspection also needs to be changed. The purpose of periodic inspections is to ensure that obvious damage or changes that might affect the system operability are visually identified. Many periodic inspections uncover design faults, but it is NFPA 72’s intent for problems to be discovered at the acceptance inspection. NFPA 72 does not necessarily intend to require people performing periodic inspections to be knowledgeable or qualified for inspecting and verifying the system design.

Ultimately, if performed by the right individuals, ITM work can be very profitable. Whether it is or not is up to you.

Header image: shutterstock / Iconic Bestiary