Fire inspection record keeping
Fire inspection record keeping comes down to showing that each extinguisher, panel, sprinkler riser and backflow valve was checked, by whom, and when. An inspection company needs that when a client questions a bill. A building owner needs it when an inspector, an insurer or a tenant asks.
The law on this varies by place, so nothing here is advice on what yours requires. What is the same everywhere is the weak spot. A paper tag shows the last date, and a report shows the whole building at once. Neither one tells you who stood at a given unit on a given day.
Were you there? A backflow inspection log
The question usually comes up in one of three ways.
An inspector at the front desk
A fire prevention officer asks for the last year of records. The building manager looks through a binder and finds a report with a gap, and the company that wrote it has since lost the contract.
A unit with an out-of-date tag
A tenant or an insurer's surveyor finds an extinguisher on the third floor with an old date on it. The company's report says all units were checked in March. Nobody can say whether that one was reached.
A backflow valve nobody thinks about
A valve in a basement gets its yearly test, and the report goes to the water authority. A reminder arrives saying no test is on file. The tester is sure they went. The owner has nothing to show either way.
How a code answers it: an extinguisher inspection QR tag
A code goes beside the required tag and does not replace it. Fix one next to each asset, or one on each floor for units you check as a group. On site, the inspector points the phone camera at it. The page that opens lists reasons you wrote, such as Monthly check, Annual inspection or Backflow test. An obstructed unit gets Not completed and a written cause, and that keeps a follow-up on your list until a later completed visit or until you mark it done.
Give each point its interval, in days. Anything past it is listed for you each morning, so a missed test does not stay hidden until a letter arrives.
If you do the work
Hold the account, and put codes on your clients' assets with their permission. A report by asset shows that your inspector reached each unit. It helps when a client finds a unit with an old tag. The code can stay in place for the length of the contract.
If you pay for the work
Hold the account yourself if you can. Records then stay with the building when the inspection company changes, and you can approve each company by its email domain. Otherwise, ask for the PDF report with each inspection, and keep it with the required forms.
Worked example: Marrowgate Fire Protection
Marrowgate Fire Protection has 5 inspectors and looks after 34 mid-rise residential and office buildings. It handles extinguishers, alarm panels and backflow tests.
At an office tower, the owner holds the account and approves Marrowgate's email domain. There are 14 codes: one on each of 12 floors for extinguishers, one at the alarm panel, and one in the basement at the backflow valve. Floor codes expect a completed visit every 32 days. The backflow code expects one every 365 days.
In March, an inspector scans floors 1 to 12 between 09:02 and 11:48. On floor 8, they tap Not completed and write that one unit is blocked by a tenant's shelving. A follow-up opens. In the basement, the backflow test goes on Marrowgate's own report form as usual, and the inspector scans and adds a photo of the valve tag.
A surveyor visits in April and asks about floor 8. The owner makes a PDF for that point. It shows the note from March and the completed visit the week after. A year later, one day past the 365, the daily summary lists the backflow code as overdue.
Names and numbers are examples.
Recommended settings for fire and backflow work
| Setting | Recommended, and why |
|---|---|
| Photo | Required on valves and panels, so the tag or the display is on record. Optional on floors with many units. |
| Location check | On, at 150 metres, to show the phone was at the building. It cannot tell one floor from the next, so the code does that job. |
| Scan in and out | Off for monthly checks. On for long tests where time on site is part of the bill. |
| Approvals | Approved people only, by company domain, on an owner's account. Flag others, so an unknown scan near a riser gets looked at. |
| Alerts | Not completed each time, because an obstructed unit should not wait. Overdue points in the daily summary. Alerts are set for the whole account. |
| Expected visit | A few days past your interval. The setting goes up to 365 days, so use 365 for a yearly test. It tells you a day late, so book the test from your own calendar. |
What it does not do
It does not certify anything. It does not replace a tag, a test report or a form required by a fire authority, a water authority or an insurer, and it does not file anything with them.
It has no fields for readings or pass and fail results, and it does not book inspections. It does not show that an inspection was done correctly. It shows who scanned, when, and what they reported.
Questions
Does this replace the inspection tag or the test report?
No. Keep every tag, form and report your fire authority or water authority requires. ScanNLog adds a record of who came and when. It does not make an inspection valid.
Is this record accepted by the fire authority?
We cannot say. Authorities differ, and none has approved ScanNLog. Ask yours what it accepts before you rely on any record. Give it the required forms first.
How long can records be kept?
You choose, from 6 months to 7 years, and older records are removed each night. If your rules ask for longer, save the PDF reports in your own files.
Should every extinguisher have its own code?
That depends on what you need to show. Pricing is per code, so a building with many units may use one code per floor. A code on each unit gives each one its own history.
Do inspectors need an app?
No. Workers never pay and never install an app. They scan with the phone camera and a web page opens, in English, French or Spanish. The page needs a data connection.
Can a test result be recorded as a number?
Only in the note, as free text. There are no pressure, reading or pass and fail fields. Not completed with a reason is the nearest thing, and it opens a follow-up.
Start with one free code
No credit card. Workers never pay and never install an app. Pricing is per code, in US dollars, with unlimited workers.