You Can't Inspect 200 Sites a Year from Memory
Fire alarm inspection is not a single-visit job. It's a recurring engagement with dozens of commercial properties, each with a different panel manufacturer, a different keypad code, a different contact person who's never available during your testing window, and a different set of devices that failed last year and may or may not have been repaired. The inspector who walks in without a site-specific record starts every visit from zero.
This template is a fire inspector's site bible — 62 fields covering everything from the CID account number to the location of the spare sprinkler box.
Six Panel Manufacturers and the "Other" Field You'll Use More Than You Think
The template provides dedicated model fields for Ademco, DMP, Fire-Lite, Notifier, Radionics, and Silent Knight. Each manufacturer gets two fields: a choice dropdown for common models and a free-text "Other" field for the discontinued units, rebranded variants, and custom OEM panels that show up in buildings from the 1990s.
This matters because panel type determines your inspection protocol. A Fire-Lite MS-9200UDLS has different zone programming conventions than a Notifier NFS-320. Knowing the model before you arrive means knowing which manuals to review, which common failures to expect, and whether you need a proprietary programmer or a laptop with the right software.
The Communicator Panel and Panel Location fields capture the two things you need to find fast on every visit. Panel Location is often "electrical room, second floor" — but on sites you visit once a year, that shorthand saves ten minutes of wandering through a building with a property manager who doesn't know where the FACP is.
CIDs, Accounts, and the Monitoring Chain
Two CID fields handle dual-path monitoring configurations. The account number ties the site to the central station. When you test, you call the monitoring company and put them in test mode using that account number — if you have the wrong one, the fire department gets dispatched to a false alarm, and the property owner gets a bill.
The "same contact info as" entry-link field connects sites that share a property management company. One update to the management company's phone number propagates to every linked site instead of requiring manual edits across fifty records.
The Fields That Separate a First Visit from a Return Trip
"Failed Devices" and "Follow up Needed" are the two fields that drive the entire return-visit workflow. After a monthly or annual inspection, any device that fails — a smoke detector with a dirty chamber reading above threshold, a pull station with a stuck handle, a waterflow switch that doesn't trip within the NFPA 90-second window — gets logged in the failure field. The follow-up field flags whether the customer needs to schedule a repair before the next inspection cycle.
"How to disable the NACs" is the field that saves you from setting off notification appliances in a building full of people at 9 AM. Every site has a different procedure — silence first, then disable, or pull the NAC circuit breaker, or enter code 7-2-1 on the Ademco keypad. Getting this wrong means horns and strobes blasting through an occupied office building while you scramble to silence the panel.
"Best time to test" and "Normal Business Hours" fields define the inspection window. Most commercial properties want testing done before open or after close. A restaurant needs you there at 6 AM before the kitchen fires up. A warehouse operates 24/7 and you test between shift changes. The keypad code and key location fields — including whether keys are in the Bay Alarm office lock box — round out the access protocol that an inspector reads in the parking lot before walking in.