Testing, Inspection & Maintenance
Scheduled, periodic tests and inspections are the best way to ensure that your building’s life safety systems will function correctly in the event of a fire. At Avangard, your inspection and all maintenance aspects will be personally looked after by an Ontario Professional Engineer and one of our senior CFAA technicians. We have the capability to test, inspect and maintain all brands of life safety systems. As life safety testing and inspection is non-discretionary and required by law on a continuous basis, we offer to work with your organization through a Testing, Inspection & Maintenance Agreement. This agreement will be tailored specifically for your facility and business operations, and at minimum will include testing and inspection of your life safety systems. During certain tests, we will perform preventative maintenance tasks with the goal of maximizing product life cycle and minimizing unexpected future repair costs. As an optional feature to the basic testing, inspection and maintenance agreement; we can include limited repairs, replacements and/or 24/7 x 365 emergency service response.
The following is intended to detail some of the tests/inspections that we can offer. Under the Preventative Maintenance column, you will find some of the maintenance tasks that our technicians will carry out during periodic tests/inspections.
T & I
Testing, Inspection
Fire Alarm
Our qualified technicians can perform your monthly audible testing as well as the annual comprehensive test of your fire alarm system and all associated field devices.
Sprinkler Systems
The fire code requires a monthly visual inspection, a bi-monthly (or quarterly depending on jurisdiction), a semi-annual as well as the annual comprehensive testing and inspection.
Fire Pump
Our technicians will run your fire pump on a weekly/monthly basis for a specific period of time. Once a year, we will perform the annual test including running the pump at full rated speeds.
Fire Extinguishers
As part of our testing and inspection program, Avangard trained technicians will perform monthly and annual extinguisher inspections. Loaners will be provided if extinguishers are removed for service.
Fire Hoses
Our technicians will perform a monthly fire hose visual inspection. During the comprehensive annual inspection, our technicians will completely run out and re-rack all your fire hoses.
Hydrants
During our annual hydrant inspection, we will perform a full flush test and record static, residual and GPM water flow.
Emergency Lighting
The monthly inspection involves mostly visual tasks. During the annual, we will confirm that the unit can sustain 30 minutes of operation during a simulated power outage.
Maintenance
Preventative Maintenance
Fire Alarm
During fire alarm tests and inspections, we will perform maintenance on your fire alarm system including sensor and sensitivity calibration, checking batteries, etc…
Sprinkler Systems
During the annual inspection, we will perform prevententative maintenance tasks such as cleaning the clapper seat on dry sprinkler systems, removing debris and resetting clapper.
Fire Pump
During the monthly and annual inspections, our technicians will check lubricating oil levels and overall system, and observe operation of any alarm indicators or any visible abnormalities.
Fire Extinguishers
Preventative maintenance tasks performed include checking extinguisher and mounting hardware for apparent physical damage, corrosion, leakage or missing parts.
Fire Hoses
During the annual inspection, our technicians will completely extend the fire hose in order to perform cleaning and maintenance before re-racking.
Hydrants
During the annual test, we will check for leaky valves and defective caps/nozzles. We will also check if water accumulated in barrel.
Emergency Lighting
During the annual test/inspection, we will confirm that terminal connections are clean, free of corrosion and lubricated. We will also check that battery surface is dry.
Testing, Inspection & Maintenance
The Bottom Line
Life safety systems will last for a long time as long as they are properly maintained. As the building owner, you are responsible to ensure that your system is tested/inspected regularly, and any required repairs are performed expediently. This will help prevent damage to property and loss of life. Call us today to discuss a Testing & Inspection Agreement that suits your needs and keeps you legally compliant.
F.A.Q.
Frequent Questions
When is the inspection performed?
We can tailor the inspection as per your business nature and requirements. We can perform inspections during regular business hours, evenings, overnights and/or weekends. Alternatively, we could perform the silent portion of the test during regular hours; and any disruptive tasks (such as bell ringing) could be performed after-hours.
What is the duration of the Inspection Agreement?
The typical duration of our Testing and Inspection agreement ranges from 1 to 5 years.
Is Avangard Fire & Life Safety insured?
Of-course! our policy covers us for commercial general liabillity as well as errors and omissions. A copy of our policy could be provided upon request.
What is the cost to add emergency response?
The cost to add emergency service response to your Testing and Inspection Agreement will range depending on your location, age/status of equipment, as well as a few other factors.
Throughout the fire code, inspection standards such as NFPA and CAN/ULC as well as this website; the terms check/test/inspect are used quite regularly. It is important to note that these terms are not interchangeable and have significantly different meanings. Please hover on each box below to better understand the difference between each term: