NFPA 72 code sections · Capstone: Design, Explain & Defend
Acceptance: 100 percent of everything, row by row through the matrix
The initial acceptance test verifies every initiating device, every notification appliance, every circuit, every emergency control function and every supervising station signal — 100 percent, no sampling. The input/output matrix from the design is the script: each input is activated and each required output is confirmed, including the ones that should not happen. The AHJ is notified in advance and may witness the test, and the results are recorded on the inspection and testing form. Only when this is done is the Record of Completion signed by the installer, the owner and the AHJ, turning the design into a documented, commissioned system.
NFPA 72 reference
Chapter 14 / Chapter 7
14.4.1 Initial Acceptance Testing (100% of all components and functions per Table 14.4.3.2; AHJ notified and may witness); 14.6.2 documentation on the inspection and testing form; 7.5.6 Record of Completion signed after acceptance
References use NFPA 72 2019/2022 numbering — section numbers can shift between editions, so confirm in the edition your AHJ has adopted.
On the job
A contractor tests 'a representative sample' of 40 of 180 strobes at acceptance to save a day. The AHJ refuses to sign the Record of Completion: acceptance is 100 percent. Three of the remaining 140 strobes turn out to be wired to the wrong NAC — and the I/O matrix row for 'elevator machine room detector → hat signal' had never been exercised at all.
Quick check
1. At initial acceptance, how many devices are tested?
2. The document used as the test script for emergency control functions is the:
3. The Record of Completion is signed:
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