A foreman's guide to fire alarm completion and acceptance testing
Fire alarm acceptance day goes one of two ways. Either the AHJ walks the building with your technician, every device reports the right address and label, the elevator recalls, the air handlers shut down, the central station calls back, and the inspector signs — or you find out at device 14 that the program was loaded from an old revision and you're rescheduling in three weeks. The difference is almost always the pre-test and the paperwork behind it. This guide covers how to use the free Excel fire alarm completion record and device test log above to get the first outcome.
What the completion record is for
The completion record is the one-page summary of what was installed and how it was proven: the panel and its firmware, how many of each device are in the building, how the batteries were sized, how the system talks to the monitoring company, and who signed off. It is the first thing the next service technician reads, and it's what the owner's insurer asks for when something goes wrong.
This template is Field PM's own layout. It records the same kinds of information as NFPA 72's Record of Completion, but it is not that form, and many AHJs require the official one. Use this workbook to organize and prove the test, then fill in the form your AHJ requires from it.
Walking through the Completion Record tab
Property, system and panel
Record the property, occupancy, AHJ and permit number, installing contractor and license, the designer and NICET certification, the approved drawing revision, the system type (addressable horn/strobe, voice evacuation, conventional) and scope. For the panel: manufacturer, model, serial, firmware version, location, annunciators, SLC loops and NAC circuits, NAC power extenders, and the primary power source — panel and circuit number, with the breaker locked and marked. Save the program file to the owner; it's the fastest way to restore a panel after a lightning hit.
Device inventory — counts itself
For each device type — smoke, heat, manual pull, duct smoke, beam, waterflow, supervisory, horn/strobe, strobe, speaker/strobe, control/relay module and monitor module — enter the quantity per drawings and the quantity installed. Tested, Passed and Failed are counted from the Device Test Log automatically. When drawings and installed quantities don't match, the total row flags it — document the change with an RFI or field change before the AHJ counts devices for you.
Secondary power (battery) check
Enter total standby current, standby period, total alarm current, alarm period, and the manufacturer's safety or derating factor. The sheet calculates a cross-check:
- Ah = (standby A × standby hr + alarm A × alarm min ÷ 60) × factor
With 0.842 A standby for 24 hours, 3.65 A alarm for 5 minutes and a 1.2 factor, that's about 24.6 Ah — so a pair of 26 Ah batteries passes. NFPA 72's secondary power section (§10.6.7 in recent editions) commonly requires 24 hours standby followed by 5 minutes of alarm, or 15 minutes for emergency voice/alarm communication — verify against the edition your AHJ adopted. The most common battery failure on acceptance day isn't a bad battery; it's a battery calc that was never updated after a change order added thirty strobes.
Monitoring
Record the monitoring company, account number, communicator type (DACT, cellular, IP, radio) and whether both communication paths were verified. Send an alarm, a supervisory and a trouble signal and confirm with the central station operator that each came through with the correct zone or point description. Write down the operator's name and time.
Test summary and sign-offs
The summary rolls up devices installed, tested, passed and failed and reports DEFICIENCIES OPEN, TESTING INCOMPLETE or READY FOR ACCEPTANCE. Confirm the sequence of operations matrix was verified and that audibility or intelligibility readings are attached. Sign-off rows cover the installing contractor or lead technician, the designer, the owner, the AHJ and the monitoring company.
The Device Test Log
One row per device, 150 rows ready to go: address, device type (drop-down), location, model or rating, test method (drop-down), reading, whether the panel showed the correct signal and label, result, tester and date. Conditional formatting turns FAIL red and "No" at the panel red, so problems jump out on a printout.
A few rules that keep the log honest:
- Never overwrite a FAIL. Fix the device, retest, and add a new row with the same address. The history is the proof.
- Test with two people. One at the device, one at the panel reading back the address and custom label. Most acceptance failures are programming or label mismatches, not bad hardware.
- Use the right test method. Listed aerosol for smoke detectors, a listed heat source for restorable heat detectors, and electrical or mechanical testing for non-restorable heat detectors per the manufacturer and the NFPA 72 test methods table.
- Record readings. Sensitivity values, dBA with ambient noted, waterflow time in seconds. Numbers beat "OK" when someone questions the test later.
Don't forget the interfaces
The devices are the easy part. Acceptance tests fall apart at the interfaces with other trades, so walk the sequence of operations matrix line by line:
- Elevator recall — primary and alternate floors, and the machine-room/hoistway heat detector shunt trip
- HVAC shutdown on duct detector activation, and fire/smoke damper operation
- Door holder release and access-control unlock where required
- Sprinkler waterflow (within the required time) and valve supervisory switches — see the sprinkler piping test record
- Kitchen hood suppression and other special-hazard systems monitored by the panel
Get those trades' foremen on site for the pre-test, not just the acceptance test.
Before you call for the AHJ
- 100% pre-test complete, every FAIL retested and closed on the log
- Battery calc current and matching the installed batteries
- Central station has the correct point list and confirmed all three signal types
- NAC circuits checked for voltage drop at the end of line under full alarm load (see the voltage drop calculator)
- As-builts, program file, battery calc and this record ready in the documentation cabinet if required
From spreadsheet to live test records
On a large building the device log runs to thousands of rows, and the pre-test is spread across several technicians and days. Field PM's QA/QC module lets each technician log tests from a phone, attach photos, and roll results into one record the PM can see in real time — with hold-point workflows so ceilings don't close before devices are verified. Start a free 30-day trial — no credit card required.
Related templates and tools
- Sprinkler piping test record — hydro, flushing, dry-pipe trip, alarms, backflow and FDC
- Inspection request log — track rough-in, pre-test and acceptance inspections
- Voltage drop calculator — check NAC circuits
- Project closeout checklist
- Browse all free construction templates
Code values in this template are inputs; section numbers vary by edition. Verify against the edition adopted by your AHJ, local amendments and the approved drawings. Not engineering advice.
