Alarm testing splits into two activities with different owners. The occupier operates a call point weekly and confirms the alarm sounds. A competent engineer functionally tests the devices on a periodic cycle. Both are required, neither substitutes for the other, and in a city where most commercial systems are monitored there is a third step that is skipped constantly.
The weekly test
A different manual call point each week, operated with the test key, with the alarm confirmed to sound throughout the premises. Rotating the call point proves every one over a period. It is recorded in the fire log book with the call point identified, the date and the result. It is also the natural moment to confirm that hold open devices released and that any linked plant responded.
Telling the monitoring centre
A monitored system reports to an alarm receiving centre, which will pass the signal to the fire and rescue service. Putting the system on test with the centre before the weekly test and taking it off afterwards is the step that gets missed, and the consequence is an appliance dispatched to a building that is testing. In London that is a serious waste of a scarce resource and it is entirely avoidable.
The periodic engineer test
The maintaining engineer functionally tests every device across an annual cycle, usually in visits spread through the year, and checks the panel, the batteries, the standby supply and the cause and effect. The record should name devices rather than the building. This is where a detector that has failed silently is found, because the weekly test proves the sounders and the panel and nothing about the detectors.
Records and what an audit reads
A log book showing a weekly test every week, with the occasional fault and what was done about it, alongside service records naming devices, is the evidence the maintenance duty was met. An unbroken run of ticks with no entries ever is less credible than a record showing real faults being found and closed.
Questions people ask about fire alarm testing london
Does the weekly test need an engineer?
No. It is done by trained staff with the call point test key and takes a few minutes.
What happens if the monitoring centre is not told?
The signal is treated as a real alarm and the fire and rescue service may be mobilised. Putting the system on test and confirming afterwards is part of the procedure.
Can the weekly test be skipped when the building is closed?
The duty is continuing. Where a building is unoccupied for a period, the arrangements should say who tests it and when, and the log should reflect reality rather than be filled in later.