NFPA 72 code sections · System Testing & Maintenance
Tell everyone before you test — and put it back in service after
Before any testing starts, the code requires notifying everyone who receives signals from the system (the supervising station, the fire department where it is notified directly) and the building occupants, so a test alarm is not treated as a real one and a real alarm is not ignored as a test. When testing is finished, the same parties are notified that the system is back in normal service. Any part of the system that is left out of service for the test is an impairment and has to be handled with the impairment procedures — including fire watch where required.
NFPA 72 reference
Chapter 14 — Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance
14.2.4 Notification (14.2.4.1 before testing: supervising station, fire department as applicable, building occupants; 14.2.4.2 notification of restoration to service); 14.2.5 / 10.21 impairments
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 technician starts a NAC test without calling the central station. The operator dispatches the fire department; the engine arrives to find a tech on a ladder. The department bills the owner for a false alarm and the tech's company eats the charge. The company now requires a logged central-station test call — with the operator's name — before the first device is tripped.
Quick check
1. Before testing begins, which parties must be notified?
2. When testing is complete:
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