In brief
Under Annex III of the Work Equipment Regulation, the fire detection and alarm system undergoes periodic inspection by authorised persons once a year, unless the standard sets a shorter period, according to its design and TSE CEN/TS 54-14. This annual inspection does not replace the contractor's maintenance or the simple daily and weekly checks by the business's own staff; recording faults, false alarms and disabled zones determines how reliable the system is.
What is a fire detection system, and what parts does it consist of?
The first thing to notice a fire is often not a person but a detector on the ceiling. If the system is not working in an empty warehouse at night or a factory closed at the weekend, a fire is only noticed once it has grown large enough to be seen from outside. A fire detection system is therefore valuable not on the day it is installed but if it works every day.
The Regulation on the Protection of Buildings from Fire defines the fire alarm system as a complete system including detection, alarm, control and communication functions, and requires the system and its parts to comply with TS EN 54 (Art. 74/1). The system is activated manually (call point), automatically (detector) or by a signal received from an extinguishing system (Art. 75/1).
| Component | Requirement in the regulation | What is looked at in the check |
|---|---|---|
| Manual call point | On escape routes; horizontal travel distance from any point on the floor at most 60 m; 110–130 cm above the floor (Art. 75/2) | Unobstructed, visible and working |
| Automatic detector | Mandatory in buildings exceeding the thresholds in Annex 7; heat, flame or another type if smoke is not suitable (Art. 75/3-4) | Correct type, coverage, contamination, accessibility |
| Fire alarm panel (control panel) | Preferably on the ground floor, in a place with permanent staff; a repeater panel if there are no staff (Art. 77) | Normal status indicator, fault log |
| Audible and visual warning | At least 15 dBA above ambient sound; at least 75 dBA at 3 m (Art. 81/5) | Audibility and visibility in every section |
| Cabling | Open circuits, short circuits and earth faults are continuously monitored (Art. 74/2) | Line fault warning on the panel |
Manual call points are mandatory, except in residential buildings, in two- to four-storey buildings with a floor area of more than 400 m², in buildings with more than four storeys and in all high-rise buildings; where call points are mandatory, an alarm system is also mandatory (Arts. 75/2, 81/1). The requirement for automatic detection depends on the height and area thresholds in Annex 7. As some rows of Annex 7 have been annulled by a decision of the Council of State, the most reliable course is to look at the fire design and the fire brigade compliance report for your own building.
Fire detection periodic inspection: once a year, and who does it?
Annex III of the Regulation on Health and Safety Requirements for the Use of Work Equipment lists fire detection and alarm systems among installations:
- Interval: 1 year if no period is set in the standards.
- Criteria: The inspection is carried out in accordance with the criteria in the design and the TSE CEN/TS 54-14 standard.
- Design: The installation design is required for the periodic inspection. For an installation without a design, the employer must have a design prepared in accordance with the Regulation on the Protection of Buildings from Fire and the relevant standards (Annex III 2.3.5).
- Who does it: Electrical engineers, electrical-electronic engineers, technical teachers who graduated from electrical education departments, and electrical technicians and senior technicians; for fire detection and alarm systems, also electronic engineers (Annex III 2.3.2). The person carrying out the inspection must be registered on EKİPNET (the Ministry's register of authorised inspectors), and the contract must be set up on İSG-KATİP (the Ministry's online OHS registration system) at least one day before the inspection.
- Independence: The person who maintains the equipment cannot carry out the periodic inspection of the same equipment (Art. 14/A-2). Your maintenance contractor and the person carrying out the periodic inspection must be different.
For how to read the report, see our article on how to read a periodic inspection report, and for the intervals for other equipment, see our article on work equipment periodic inspection intervals.
Inspection, maintenance and operational testing: three separate layers
A common mistake is to think that the annual periodic inspection is the system's only maintenance. In fact, there are three separate layers:
- Periodic inspection: Once a year, by an independent authorised person; documents the system's conformity with its design and the standard.
- Maintenance: Testing, cleaning and parts replacement carried out by the company that installed or maintains the system, according to the standard and manufacturer's instructions. Art. 84 of the Regulation on the Protection of Buildings from Fire requires detection and alarm systems to undergo the periodic checks, testing and maintenance specified in the relevant standards, under the responsibility of the building owner and manager or of the building official to whom responsibility has been transferred in writing.
- Operational checks: Simple daily and weekly checks carried out by the business's own staff.
Simple tests the business's staff can carry out
The checks below are not listed one by one in the legislation; they are a recommendation compiled from practices in standards and manufacturers' instructions. Put in writing, together with your maintenance contractor, which test is carried out at what frequency.
Every day (at the start of the shift):
- Is the "normal" indicator lit on the panel? Is there a fault, silenced alarm or disabled zone warning?
- Is there staff where the panel is located; if not, is the repeater panel being monitored?
Every week:
- One call point at a time is tested with a test key, and it is checked that the alarm reaches the panel and the sounders operate. A different call point is chosen each week and its number is written in the log.
- Before the test, employees and the monitoring centre to which the system is connected are informed.
Every month:
- Detectors are visually checked: have they been painted over, covered with plastic, coated with dust, or has a new rack, partition or duct been added next to them?
- Is the area in front of call points blocked by stacks, pallets or cabinets?
- Is there a battery or power supply fault warning?
What the business's staff should not do: Remove detectors, change the panel programming, permanently disable a zone or use test spray haphazardly. Smoke testing of detectors is done by people trained for this work, with suitable equipment.
Fault records and disablement
A system's reliability shows most clearly in how faults and false alarms are managed. Keep a log next to the panel recording the following information:
- Date and time, type of event (fire alarm, false alarm, fault, test)
- Zone and device number
- Possible cause (steam, dust, exhaust fumes, insects, maintenance work)
- Action taken and who returned the system to normal
False alarms must be taken seriously. A zone that gives frequent false alarms eventually leads employees to ignore real alarms too. Repeated false alarms from the same detector point to the wrong choice of type or contamination; this is solved with the maintenance contractor, not "solved" by switching off the zone.
Disablement is sometimes necessary; for example, during hot work such as welding or grinding, a detector zone can be switched off temporarily. In this case a permit to work is issued, when the zone was switched off and back on is recorded, and the system is always restored when the work is finished. The regulation requires that, if the fire alarm system is out of service for any reason, unprotected areas are patrolled by additional security staff and the necessary measures taken until it is working again (Art. 74/3). For the permit process, see our article on the hot work permit.
Common shortcomings found in inspections
- Warehouses where rack height has been increased or partitions added, but the detector layout has not been changed
- Detectors painted over during painting work or covered with plastic during construction and left that way
- Call points with pallets, cabinets or stacks placed in front of them
- Sounders that cannot be heard in noisy production areas and sections without visual warnings; if there is an employee with a hearing impairment, a visual warning is mandatory in that area (Art. 81/3-a), see personal evacuation plans for employees with disabilities
- A fire panel standing in a room with no staff, which nobody monitors
- Non-conformities written in the periodic inspection report recurring unchanged a year later
For checks on the extinguishing side, see our articles on fire extinguisher inspection and refilling and the sprinkler requirement, and for workplace-wide measures, see our article on the workplace fire prevention checklist.
For workplaces in Bursa and the surrounding provinces, we plan the periodic inspection of fire detection and alarm systems, independently of the maintenance contractor, with authorised persons registered on EKİPNET via our solution partners, and follow up the closure of non-conformities in the report. For details, see our periodic inspection page, and to track inspection dates, see our OHS calendar tool. For additional risks in warehouse buildings, see our logistics and warehousing sector page.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often is the periodic inspection of a fire detection system carried out?
Once a year, unless a shorter period is specified in the standard. The inspection is carried out according to the design and the TSE CEN/TS 54-14 standard by an authorised engineer, technical teacher or technician registered on EKİPNET.
Can the company that installed the system also carry out the periodic inspection?
The person who maintains the equipment cannot carry out the periodic inspection of the same equipment. Plan the periodic inspection with an authorised person independent of the company with which you have a maintenance contract.
Can we test the call points ourselves?
Testing a call point with a test key is a simple check that trained staff of the business can carry out. Inform employees and the monitoring centre before the test, record which call point you tested and return the system to normal.
How is a smoke detector checked?
The business's staff check detectors visually: contamination, paint, covering or changes in layout. A functional smoke test, however, is a job for the maintenance contractor or a trained person with suitable test equipment.
Equipment inventory and an inspection calendar under the new Annex III, with inspections carried out through our solution partners, plus report and defect follow-up.
Bursa SİSTEMER OSGB Technical Team — written from the field experience of our OHS specialists and workplace physicians. Legal information is valid as of the publication/update date; contact us for an assessment specific to your business.