Commercial Service
Fire & Life-Safety Assessments
Most businesses find out what is wrong with their fire protection from the fire marshal. That is the worst possible time, because by then you have a written violation, a correction deadline, and sometimes a re-inspection fee.
An assessment is the same walkthrough, done first, by someone on your side. We inventory what you have, check what condition it is in, review your documentation, and tell you what an inspector is likely to write up — while there is still time to deal with it quietly.
This is also the right starting point if you have just bought a building, taken over a lease, or inherited a facility whose records nobody can find.
What an assessment covers
We walk the whole building, not just the equipment we happen to service. The point is to give you an accurate picture, including things that fall outside our scope and need another trade.
- Complete inventory of fire protection equipment, by location
- Condition and service status of every unit
- Service tags and documentation — what exists and what is missing
- Equipment sizing and class against the actual hazards present
- Placement, mounting height, travel distance, and accessibility
- Emergency and exit lighting coverage along the egress path
- Exit routes, door hardware, and obstructions
- Storage clearances and electrical panel access
- Kitchen suppression coverage against current appliance layout
- Signage and hazard identification
What you get
A written summary of findings, prioritized. Not a sales quote dressed up as a report — a list of what is wrong, how serious each item is, and what it takes to correct it.
- Items that would be written as violations at your next inspection
- Items that are compliant now but come due within the next twelve months
- Items that are outside our scope, with a plain note about who handles them
- Recommendations that are genuinely optional, marked as such
We separate those categories deliberately. A report that presents everything as urgent is a sales document, and you should treat it as one — from us or anyone else.
Preparing for a fire marshal inspection
If you have an inspection scheduled, an assessment beforehand is the cheapest insurance available. Most findings are straightforward and fixable in a day or two — but only if you know about them in advance.
The findings that come up most often:
- Expired extinguisher tags
- Blocked or obstructed exits
- Emergency lighting that fails a full-duration test
- Storage stacked too close to sprinkler heads
- Blocked electrical panel clearance
- Extension cords used as permanent wiring
- Exit doors that need a key to open from the inside
- Missing or unavailable inspection documentation
- Kitchen suppression out of certification or no longer matching the appliance layout
After a failed inspection
If you have already been written up, send us the report. We will go through it and tell you which items fall within our scope, which need another trade, and what the realistic timeline is against your correction deadline.
We will also tell you plainly when something is not worth paying us for. Some findings you can correct yourself in an afternoon, and you should.
Documentation and service records
A surprising share of inspection findings are not equipment problems at all — they are records problems. The extinguishers were serviced, but nobody can produce the paperwork. The emergency lights were tested, but there is no log.
Part of an assessment is getting your records into a state where you can hand them to an inspector without a search. Going forward, everything we service is documented, and you get a copy that lives somewhere other than a binder in a back office.
Common questions
What is a fire and life-safety assessment?
A walkthrough of your building that inventories your fire protection equipment, checks its condition and service status, reviews your documentation, and identifies what an inspector is likely to cite — before the inspection rather than after.
We just failed a fire inspection. Where do we start?
Send us the inspection report. We will go through the findings, tell you which fall within our scope, which need another trade, and what the timeline looks like against your correction deadline.
We just bought a building. Is this worth doing?
This is probably the best time to do it. You inherit whatever the previous owner left, including equipment with no service history and systems nobody documented. An assessment tells you what you actually own before it becomes your violation.
Will you just try to sell us equipment?
The report separates actual violations from items coming due from genuinely optional recommendations, and it flags what falls outside our scope entirely. If something is not worth paying us for, we will say so.
Assessments by location
Based in Claremont, serving commercial buildings within roughly 90 miles.