NFPA 72 code sections · Regulatory Compliance & Inspections
The documentation cabinet: everything the inspector asks for, in one place
Chapter 7 requires that the system's documentation be kept where the AHJ and service personnel can get to it — commonly a labeled documentation cabinet at the fire alarm control unit or another approved location. It holds the Record of Completion, as-built drawings, the inspection and testing records, the site-specific software record, the owner's manual and the sequence of operations. The inspector's first question is 'where is your documentation?'; a compliant building answers by pointing at the cabinet.
NFPA 72 reference
Chapter 7 — Documentation
7.7.1 documentation storage (documentation cabinet or approved location at the control unit, labeled); 7.7.2 record retention; 7.2 minimum documentation; 7.5.6 Record of Completion; 7.6 ITM documentation
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
During a fire inspection the building engineer spends 40 minutes searching an office for last year's test report while the inspector waits. The citation reads 'records not available'. A red documentation cabinet mounted beside the FACU — with the RoC, as-builts, test reports and a USB copy of the program — turns the next inspection into a five-minute conversation.
Quick check
1. Fire alarm documentation is kept:
2. Which belongs in the documentation cabinet?
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