By Casey Bennett, Director of Fire Technologies
As a leader in the fire and life safety space, we at Tech Electronics understand the systems we provide are only valuable if they work when it matters. That’s why inspections are so important.
Facility managers generally do not look forward to code-required system inspections for their fire alarm, and I understand why. They are costly, and time-consuming and can be disruptive to the day-to-day operations of a business.
They are also a crucial part of ensuring your fire and life safety system is up to scratch, and cutting corners is not an option.
Tech maintains a very high standard when it comes to inspections, and we pride ourselves on being able to conduct them not only efficiently, but with a high degree of accuracy.
Detection Inspection
There is a disturbing trend in industry circles of inspectors taking shortcuts rather than conducting proper inspections. The NFPA very clearly outlines what is required for a functional inspection – you must introduce actual smoke into the detection chamber.
Unfortunately, to save time some inspectors use magnets to simulate the alarm condition electronically, but don’t functionally test the device’s detection chamber.
This is a problem.
Imagine if there was a fire, but it turns out the nearest detector, which was able to set off an alarm with an electrical connection, wasn’t properly detecting smoke to do the same. That puts lives in danger.
It’s an unacceptable misstep, but it’s important to acknowledge why it’s happening. Most inspectors aren’t setting out to cut corners, but on busy sites when facility managers are itching to get back to work, these things can happen when everyone is rushing to get things done.
These standards don’t disappear overnight; they slowly erode over time as more and more compromises are made.
These compromises usually start with price, thankfully, at Tech we have technologies like Self-Testing Detectors from Notifier, which make these functional tests much quicker.
Setting a Culture
When there aren’t new technologies available to streamline the inspection process, like with pull station inspections, the solution is the culture of the organization you’re working with.
Culture setting moves like this require motivated and talented people who take pride in their work, and leaders who set the standard that cutting corners isn’t going to be tolerated.
I’ve always been proud to say here at Tech “doing it right” has always been the norm and continues to be the standard we uphold.
The way we build that culture is with standardization. Things are done the right way because there is no other way to do them.
The same goes for all of our inspectors who are required to obtain NICET certifications to work in the field and continue to further their skills and education throughout their time at Tech.
If your annual inspection is coming up, and you’re looking for a provider to partner with for all your inspection needs, contact us.
