Fire detection and alarm systems: function tests and the logbook

A fire detection and alarm system, unlike fire extinguishers, has several intervals running at once. Czech decree 246/2001 Coll. On fire prevention distinguishes function tests from the operability check, and each has its own frequency.

Monthly for the panel, six-monthly for the detectors

Function tests are split according to which part of the system they cover:

• Once a month the control panel and the equipment connected to it are tested. A record in the system logbook is enough.
• Once every six months the automatic fire detectors and the equipment the system controls are tested, meaning fire dampers, doors or ventilation. This test requires a written record as well as a logbook entry.
• Once a year an operability check of the whole installation takes place.

The difference between the monthly and the six-monthly test is not technical difficulty but what gets verified. The monthly one asks whether the panel responds and signals. The six-monthly one goes further and verifies that the equipment the system is supposed to control actually reacts to an alarm. That is usually where faults are found.

The system logbook

Every task is recorded in the logbook. Monthly tests need an entry; six-monthly tests need a written record alongside it. The logbook is the first thing an inspection reaches for, and an empty logbook is, for the purpose of proof, the same as a test that never happened.

Where it breaks down in practice

• Monthly tests are done but nobody records them, so they cannot be proven.
• The six-monthly test covers only the detectors and skips the controlled equipment.
• After a layout change the detectors stay in positions that no longer match the design.
• The system reports a fault for a long time and the staff get used to it, so it stops being dealt with.
• A change of supplier without handing over the logbook, which loses the history of intervals.

How it relates to other fire safety equipment

A fire alarm system is one of the designated fire safety installations and the same logic applies as to fire extinguishers or emergency lighting : the equipment must be kept operable, and operability is proven by a record, not by the equipment looking fine. In buildings with several such installations it pays to keep the intervals in one place.

A one page summary

For a fire detection and alarm system, the control panel and connected equipment are function-tested once a month, the automatic detectors and controlled equipment once every six months, and an operability check takes place once a year. The monthly test is recorded in the logbook; the six-monthly one also requires a written record.

Source: Czech decree 246/2001 Coll. On fire prevention; position as of October 2026.