Fire detection and emergency lighting engineers, ADS Group
Servicing is the work
A service visit is physical: panel and battery checks, device testing, sounder and interface checks, fault diagnosis. It produces a service record listing what was tested and what was found.
Certification is the statement
Certification is issued by a competent person and states that the system meets the applicable standard for the period covered. It is the document a fire officer, insurer or purchaser asks to see.
If outstanding non-conformances exist, they should be recorded rather than ignored. A certificate that does not reflect the actual state of the system is worth nothing to the building.
Why buildings get caught out
The common failure is a building that has had someone in to do work, but holds no certification and no written record of what was found. The work may have been fine; there is simply nothing to show for it.
Ask for the service record after every visit and the certification on the annual cycle, and keep both in the fire safety file.
References
- National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI), Publisher of I.S. 3218 and I.S. 3217.
This guide summarises publicly available information. It is general information, not legal advice, and it does not reproduce the text of any standard. For your own building, request a survey.