Fire Systems Testing

City of Herrin’s current fire code: NFPA Life Safety 101, 2012 edition

State of Illinois current fire code: NFPA Life Safety 101, 2015 edition

 

Fire and life safety systems, such as fire alarms and sprinklers, are among the most important components in any building type for preserving lives, protecting property, and providing safety to first responders.

Inspections, Testing, Maintenance and Reporting

 

Building owners are required to have the systems inspected, tested, and maintained in good working condition. Generally, systems require an annual test that must be reported to the fire department using our third-party vendor www.thecomplianceengine.com (effective January 15th, 2024).

 

There are also secondary tests and certain maintenance processes that must be performed periodically even though you do not need to submit reports. The testing company you hire should be able to provide more information about the test and maintenance requirements.

 

Impairments - Systems Not Working

You and your contractor must follow additional reporting requirements when testing reveals a system is impaired.

You must notify the Herrin Fire Department (618-942-6514) of planned or emergency impairments that are anticipated to take a fire alarm system out of service for more than four hours.  Fire alarm systems that will be out of service for more than four hours will require the building to be placed on a fire watch.

You must notify the Herrin Fire Department (618-942-6514) of planned or emergency impairments that are anticipated to take a fire suppression system out of service for more than ten hours.  Fire suppression systems that will be out of service for more than ten hours will require the building to be placed on a fire watch.

 

Notification and Mitigation

When to provide notification:

• Emergency impairments: Immediately

• Planned impairments: Minimum of five (5) business days in advance. We recommend you notify us immediately upon beginning to plan for the impairment.

Note: You should notify your insurance carrier, alarm company, building owner/manager and any supervisors or tenants in the affected areas. Tell them what the impairment is and provide an estimate of how long the system(s) might be out of service.

System Restoration

What to do when the system is restored to service:  

When an impaired system is restored to normal working order you need to notify: 

• Herrin Fire Department 618-942-6514

• Insurance carrier 

• Alarm company 

• Building owner or manager 

 

Monitoring Services

What to do when monitoring services are interrupted 

You do not need to report an impairment. Interruption of monitoring should not prevent a fire protection system from functioning.

• The alarm monitoring company must notify you of service interruptions. 

• You must correct any system deficiency in a reasonable time. 

What to do when monitoring services are terminated

You do not need to report an impairment. Termination of monitoring should not prevent a fire protection system from functioning. Termination of monitoring service occurs when monitoring contracts expire or are cancelled.

The monitoring service provider must notify us whenever alarm monitoring services are terminated for fire alarm systems required to be monitored by the Herrin Fire Code. To notify us:

• 618-942-6514

• herrinfiredepartment@outlook.com