Answer
What is a fire watch impairment notice?
By Price Protection SecurityReviewed TX DPS Lic #B09430601
Short answer
An impairment notice is the notification a building makes when a required fire protection system goes out of service: to the fire department and the fire code official, as IFC 901.7 requires, and to the insurer and the alarm monitoring company where the policy or the contract requires it. It is paired with a tag on the impaired equipment and, where a fire watch is required, with the watch and its log. A second notice follows when the system is restored.
Who is notified
The fire department and the fire code official, immediately, under section 901.7 of the International Fire Code as Houston adopts it with local amendments; in Houston that is the Fire Marshal’s Office. The alarm monitoring company, so a system that is offline is not reported as a false alarm or missed altogether. The insurer, where the property policy or an impairment permit requires it, which is common for planned shutdowns of any length. The building’s own occupants and tenants, by the building’s plan, so people know the alarm may not sound.
What the notice contains
The building and its address, the system and the part of it that is out of service, the areas affected, the reason and the expected duration, the impairment coordinator’s name and number, and what the building is doing in the meantime: the fire watch, its interval and who is performing it. Insurers often have a form; the fire marshal may accept a call followed by an email; the coordinator keeps a copy of each in the impairment file.
The tag
Impaired equipment is tagged, at the valve, the panel or the pump, so nobody assumes it works and nobody restores it unexpectedly. The tag names the coordinator and the date. Tags come off only when the system is restored and tested, and the coordinator records who removed them and when.
The closing notice
When the contractor restores the system and it is tested, the coordinator notifies everyone who received the first notice, removes the tags and files the fire watch log. The impairment coordinator answer describes the role that manages all of this, and the sprinkler impairment checklist walks through the sequence.
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