A fire alarm system only earns its keep if every device on it works on the night it is needed. NFPA 72 requires the whole system to be inspected and tested on a schedule, device by device, and requires the results to be written down. We install, inspect and service alarm systems for commercial and residential buildings across Chicago.
A functional test is not a matter of pressing the panel's test button. NFPA 72 requires initiating devices to be tested individually, and the record has to show what was tested and what the result was.
Standby batteries are the most common cause of a system going into trouble, and the most common thing to be quietly ignored because the buzzer is annoying rather than alarming. They have a finite life whether or not the system has ever been called on, and a panel in trouble is a panel that may not be able to hold up the system during a mains failure.
We load-test batteries at every service and replace them on schedule rather than waiting for the buzzer.
In apartment and condo buildings, the common-area system is inspected and tested like any commercial system. What tends to get missed is the in-unit devices — the smoke and carbon monoxide alarms inside each apartment, which Illinois law also covers, and which nobody is checking because they are behind a locked door.
It is worth planning that access rather than discovering it during an inspection. We work with property managers to schedule a building sweep so both the common system and the in-unit devices get done in one pass.
For a new or replacement installation we look at what the building is, how it is occupied, and what the code requires for that occupancy — then design the detection and notification around it. Smaller commercial spaces are usually conventional systems; larger or multi-tenant buildings are better served by an addressable panel that tells you which device has activated instead of which zone.
Annually as a full functional test under NFPA 72, with some components on their own shorter cycles — batteries and certain detectors are checked more often, and the panel should be visually checked far more frequently than once a year. Written records of every test have to be kept and produced on request.
A steady trouble buzzer usually means a fault, a low battery or a device off-line rather than a fire, but it does mean part of the system is not protecting you. Do not silence it and leave it. Call us with the message showing on the panel and we can usually tell you over the phone how urgent it is.
We install, inspect and service the system and verify the monitoring connection at each test. Monitoring itself is provided through a central station — talk to us about what your building needs and we will tell you what the connection requires.
Yes. Illinois requires working smoke alarms in dwelling units, and in condo and apartment buildings the in-unit devices are as much a part of life safety as the common-area system. They are also the ones most often missed, because they need access to occupied apartments. We help property managers plan a building sweep that covers both.
Fire Alarm Systems across Chicago and the surrounding Cook County suburbs. See all areas →
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1840 N Clybourn Ave · Chicago, IL 60614
