OPTIONAL INFORMATION Name of School: Date of Inspection: Vocational Program/Course/Room: Signature of Inspector: ALARM SYSTEMS AND EVACUATION PLANS Guidelines: This checklist covers regulations issued by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs under the Uniform Fire Code (N.J.A.C. 5:70) and the Uniform Construction Code Enhancements for public school facilities (N.J.A.C. 5:23-3.11A). It also includes regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) under the general industry standards 29 CFR 1910.37, 1910.38, 1910.39, 1910.164 and 1910.165. The Uniform Fire Code has adopted the model code of the Building Officials and Code Administrators International, Inc. known as the BOCA National Fire Prevention Code/1996" by reference as well as the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standard for the National Fire Alarm Code (NFPA Standard 72, last updated in winter 2011) as it applies to inspection, testing and maintenance. This checklist applies to fire detection and alarm systems installed to alert students and school district employees to fire and other emergency hazards. It also applies to establishment of fire and emergency action plans, which are cross-referenced in school safety and health plans required by N.J.A.C. 6A:19-6.5The local fire official should be consulted for clarification regarding interpretation of these regulations. The OSHA code for emergency action and fire prevention plans under 1910.38 must be implemented only when required by another OSHA standard. Even though it may not be required in your situation, development of an emergency action and fire prevention plan is highly recommended. Fire alarm and detection systems installed in full compliance with existing building codes may not have to be upgraded to meet existing code regulations. Detailed annual testing requirements of automatic and manual fire alarm systems and fire detection systems have not be included in this checklist. For this information, please consult 29 CFR 1910.164, 1910.165, BOCA F-513.2 and NFPA 72. Implementation of some or all of the regulations may not be the responsibility of an individual classroom teacher. The questions that are most likely not the responsibility of the individual teacher are marked with an asterisk (*). 1.* Is your school equipped with automatic fire alarm and fire detection systems? [N.J.A.C. 5:70-4.9(a)8 and 5:23-3.11A(c)] 2.* Is your school equipped with a manual fire alarm system? [N.J.A.C. 5:70-4.10(a)2 and 5:23-3.11A(c)1] 3.* Are manual fire alarm boxes provided in the natural path of escape for areas which serve 50 or more persons? [N.J.A.C.5:23-3.11A(c)2] Please Circle 05/2013 79
4.* Is the distance to any manual fire alarm box no more than 200 feet of unobstructed horizontal distance on the same floor? [N.J.A.C. 5:23-3.11A(c)2] 5.* Is disabling, tampering or interfering with fire detectors and the fire alarm system prohibited? [N.J.A.C. 5:70-3.2(a)5viii {F- 504.2.1}] 6.* Are at least two fire drills performed during the first two weeks of a school term (semester)? [N.J.A.C. 5:70-3.2{BOCA F-703.2}] Note: Fire drill frequency requirements apply to schools of two or more rooms, or of a school of one room when located above the first story of a building. Where the weather is severe, drills may be curtailed during the winter months. 7.* Are two fire drills and one security drill performed each month within school hours? [N.J.A.C. 5:70-3.2{BOCA F-703.2}, P.L.2009, c.178 (A-3002 / S-2518)] Note: School security drill is defined as A an exercise, other than a fire drill, to practice procedures that respond to an emergency situation including, but not limited to, a non-fire evacuation, lockdown, or active shooter situation and that is similar in duration to a fire drill. 8.* If school buildings have been provided with fire escapes, are they used by a portion or by each pupil performing every fire drill? [N.J.A.C. 5:70-3.2{BOCA F-703.2}] 9.* Are records maintained on each fire drill including the 1) date of the drill; 2) time of the drill; 3) weather conditions; 4) number of occupants evacuated; and, 5) total time for evacuation? [N.J.A.C. 5:70-3.2{BOCA F-703.3}] 10.* Is every occupant evacuated in each fire drill? [N.J.A.C. 5:70-3.2{BOCA F-703.4}] 11.* Is each alarm and fire detection system maintained in operating condition except when undergoing repair or maintenance? [29 CFR 1910.37(a)(4), 1910.37(e), 1910.164(c)(1), 1910.165(d)(1) and N.J.A.C. 5:70-3.2{BOCA F-504.1}] 12.* If a fire alarm or fire detection system is out of service for any 05/13 80
reason, then is proper notice given to the local fire department? [N.J.A.C. 5:70-3.2{BOCA F-504.5}] 13.* Is the local fire department immediately notified of any fire in a school building or on school grounds?[n.j.a.c. 5:70-3.2{F-703.7}] 14.* Is the local fire department provided the data concerning any fires to the New Jersey Division of Fire Safety at least annually?[n.j.a.c. 5:70-3.2{F-703.7}] 15.* Are heat and fire detectors visually inspected at 12-month intervals to ensure each detector remains in good physical condition and there are not changes affecting detector performance, such as building modifications, occupancy hazards and environmental effects? [N.J.A.C. 5:70-3.2{BOCA F-514.2}] 16.* Is the servicing, maintenance and testing of fire alarm and fire detection systems, including cleaning and necessary sensitivity adjustments only performed by qualified personnel? [29 CFR 1910.164(c)(4) and N.J.A.C. 5:70-3.2{BOCA F-513.1, F-514.1 and NFPA 72}] 17.* Are fire detectors that need to be cleaned of dirt, dust or other particulates cleaned at regular periodic intervals? [29 CFR 1910.164(c)(5)] 18.* Is fire detection equipment that is installed outdoors or in the presence of corrosive atmospheres protected from corrosion? [29 CFR 1910.164(d)(1)] Note: A canopy, hood, or other suitable protection must be provided to prevent corrosion. 19.* Is fire detection equipment protected from mechanical or physical impact which then might render it inoperable? [29 CFR 1910.164(d)(2)] 20.* Has everyone been instructed on the preferred methods for reporting emergencies? [29 CFR 1910.165(b)(4)] 21.* Have procedures been established for sounding emergency alarms? [29 CFR 1910.38(d) and 1910.165(b)(5)] 22.* Is the alarm capable of being perceived above ambient noise or 05/13 81
light levels by everyone in the area? [29 CFR 1910.165(b)(2)] 23.* Are alarms distinctive and recognizable as a signal to evacuate the building or to perform actions designated under the emergency action plan? [29 CFR 1910.37(e), 1910.38(d) and 1910.165(b)(3)] 24.* Are manually operated actuation devices which are used in conjunction with alarm systems, unobstructed, conspicuous and readily accessible? [29 CFR 1910.165(e)] 25. Are 80% of emergency alarm processing times completed within 60 seconds, and 95% of alarm processing completed within 106 seconds? [NFPA 1221 (7.4.2)] 26. Are emergency alarm processing times for the following call types completed within 90 seconds 90%of the time and within 120 seconds 99% of the time: [NFPA 1221 (7.4.2.2)] (1) Calls requiring emergency medical dispatch questioning and pre-arrival medical instructions? (2) Calls of criminal activity requiring information vital to emergency responder safety prior to dispatching units? (3) Hazardous material incidents? 27.* Is there a written emergency plan including items listed below? [29 CFR 1910.38(c)] (a) Procedures for reporting a fire or other emergency; (b) Procedures for emergency evacuation, including type of evacuation and exit route assignments; (c) Procedures to be followed by individuals who remain to operate critical operations before they evacuate; (d) Procedures to account for individuals after evacuation; (e) Procedures to be followed by individuals performing rescue or medical duties; and, (f) The name or job title of individual(s) who may be contacted to get more information about the plan. 28.* Is there a written fire prevention plan including items listed below? [29 CFR 1910.39(c)] (a) A list of major fire hazards, proper handling and storage procedures for hazardous materials, potential ignition sources and their control, and the type of fire protection equipment necessary to control each major hazard; 05/13 82
(b) (c) (d) (e) Procedures to control accumulations of flammable and combustible waste materials; Procedures for regular maintenance of safeguards installed on heat-producing equipment to prevent the accidental ignition of combustible materials; The names or titles of personnel responsible for maintaining equipment and systems installed to prevent or control ignitions or fires; and The names or titles of personnel responsible for control of fuel source hazards. 29.* Is the written emergency and fire prevention plan made available for review by affected individuals? [29 CFR 1910.38(b) and 1910.39(b)] 30.* Has training been provided to designated individuals who will assist in the safe and orderly emergency evacuation of building occupants? [29 CFR 1910.38(e)] 31.* Has the emergency and fire prevention plan been reviewed with affected individuals? [29 CFR 1910.38(f) and 1910.39(d)] 31.* Do emergency control functions occur automatically and not interfere with power for lighting and operating any elevators? Required Emergency Communications Systems: An emergency communications system shall be installed in occupancies where required by the authority having jurisdiction or by other applicable governing laws, codes, or standards. Please note: Centralized emergency management systems may control fire alarms at buildings throughout the campus. This requires a pre-signal feature meeting the following conditions: The initial fire alarm signals sound only in department offices, control rooms, fire brigade stations, or other constantly attended central locations and/or there is a connection to a remote location, the transmission of the fire alarm signal to the supervising station activates upon the initial alarm signal. Subsequent system operation is by either of the following means: (a) Human action that activates the general fire alarm (b) A feature that allows the control equipment to delay the general alarm by more than one minute after the start of the alarm processing. Schools with centralized emergency management systems please note the other elements that may need to be evaluated: 1. Voice messages for emergency communications systems should be capable of reproducing recorded, synthesized, or live (e.g., microphone, telephone handset, and radio) messages with voice intelligibility 2. Microphones for live voice announcements shall have posted instructions for the microphone user. 3. Loudspeakers used for emergency communications system functions also providing ancillary functions shall have the fire command center or the emergency command center (as applicable) constantly attended 05/13 83
by trained personnel, with selective paging permitted by the authority having jurisdiction and/or have loudspeakers and associated audio equipment installed or located with safeguards to resist tampering or misadjustment of those components essential for intended emergency notification. Note: The monitoring integrity requirements must continue to be met while the system is used for non-emergency purposes. 4. Circuits intended to transmit off-premises shall have a pathway survivability of Level 0, Level 1, Level 2, or Level 3. Mass Notification Layers used for emergency communications shall be categorized into layers consider the type of audience and reach as follows: (1) Layer 1- means of notification of occupants by systems/equipment controlled by authorized users (in-building ECS), (2) Layer 2- means of notification of occupants on the exterior of a building controlled by authorized users (wide-area MNS) 5. Building controls for fire emergency voice/alarm communication systems shall be at an approved secure location accessible only by trained authorized personnel. If multiple in-building fire emergency voice/alarm communications control locations are present, only one can be in control at a given time. The location having control of the system shall be identified by a visible indication at that location and other manual must provide visible indication of on/off status for their associated evacuation signaling zone. 6. Every emergency management system used for fire alarms and other broad-scale communications at a school or district campus must have required documentation on file (stored in an approved cabinet) and available for review. This includes: Owner s manual with a complete set of operations and maintenance manuals, manufacturer s published instructions, and product data sheets covering all system equipment; record and as-built drawings; a written sequence of operation; one current copy of the record of completion form, updated to reflect all system additions or modifications, a record copy of the systemspecific software, copy of the software stored on-site in nonvolatile, nonerasable, nonrewritable memory; emergency response plan, with operational management procedures defined for management and activation of the system; risk analysis, when provided; 7. Upon activation of an emergency signal, the system shall override any local volume setting to deliver at a preset volume setting that has been established through testing and acceptance of sound level and speech intelligibility as required by this Code. 8. Visible Notification, where audible notification is provided, mass notification systems shall also provide visible notification information to serve the hearing impaired and for high-noise areas. The visible notification shall be accomplished using strobes and the spacing of colored strobes shall be in accordance with public mode spacing requirements using the effective intensity as the basis for spacing. 9. Two-Way Radio Communications Enhancement Systems must be in contact with critical areas such as the fire command center(s), the fire pump room(s), exit stairs, exit passageways, elevator lobbies, standpipe cabinets, sprinkler sectional valve locations, and other areas deemed critical by the authority having jurisdiction, shall be provided with 99 percent floor area radio coverage. A minimum inbound signal strength of 95 dbm, or other signal strength as required by the authority having jurisdiction, shall be provided throughout the coverage area and a minimum outbound signal strength of 95 dbm at the donor site, or other signal strength as required by the authority having jurisdiction, shall be provided from the coverage area. 05/13 84