Thus, the dreaded order was issued by the fire marshal: A fire watch is needed for your property. When a fire alarm, fire sprinkler, standpipe, or other fire protection system is damaged or needs scheduled maintenance, this is frequently done.
Due to the diverting of manpower or the hiring of outside contractors to keep an eye on the building, fire watches can be overwhelming for many property owners and costly. When a fire protection system is properly organized, however, carrying it out while it is undergoing quick repairs or revisions should be simple. Check out this site: Fire Watch Guards
I need a fire watch, for what reason?
Reason 1 for Fire Watch: A malfunction in a building’s fire alarm, fire sprinkler, or fire suppression system, or a planned outage that is expected to last a long time NFPA 25: According to the Standard for the Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance of Water-Based Fire Protection Systems, an impairment is considered a serious problem that renders all or a portion of a fire protection system inoperable until it is fixed and poses a threat to life safety. When a fire protection system or a portion of a system fails, a property is rarely more susceptible to catastrophic fire loss.
It doesn’t matter if the problem is the result of planned repairs, testing, maintenance, or an emergency like a bursting pipe. Handbook for NFPA 25: According to ITM of Water-Based Fire Protection Systems, if a proper impairment program had been implemented, many devastating fires could have been avoided
In the end, it is up to the local authority having jurisdiction (AHJ), typically a fire marshal, to decide if a fire watch is necessary for areas of a property that are not protected by an impairment. The degree of impairment, the length of time the system could be out of service, the kind of hazard that doesn’t have protection, the possibility of an uncontrolled fire, and any risk to the community all play a role in its decision.
If the system will be out of service for a significant amount of time within 24 hours—even if the hours are not consecutive—property owners are required by NFPA standards to report impairments to the AHJ.
NFPA 72: The National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code require that AHJs be informed if fire alarm systems are inoperable for more than eight hours to determine the appropriate mitigating measures, which can range from straightforward occupant notification to fire watches. AHJs weigh the type of occupancy, the duration of the impairment, the level of building occupancy during the impairment period, whether active work is being conducted on the fire alarm system during the impairment, the condition and features of other fire protection systems, and the assets at risk when evaluating alarms.
Regardless of the nature of the impairment, water-based fire protection systems may be subject to NFPA 25’s fire watch requirements if the system or its components are out of service for more than 10 hours in 24 hours:
If fire protection systems are out of service for more than four hours in 24 hours, many AHJs maintain even stricter standards, requiring fire watches, building evacuations, or standby firefighters with ready apparatus. Fire watches, as opposed to building evacuations, which can be disruptive to business, appeal to the majority of property owners.
