Reasons You Should Test Your Fire Alarm System Regularly

A fire alarm system is an important system to have in your home or business. The alarm system can prevent you and your family, colleagues at work, or employees from suffering serious injuries. In addition, burnt property means losses. In summary, the importance of a fire alarm system cannot be underestimated. However, even as you have this system installed at home or your business, it requires regular testing. There are several reasons why the tests are mandatory.

Guarantee Safety

There is no better way to guarantee the safety — from fires — of occupants of a building than ensuring that the fire alarm systems works, at all times. A faulty alarm system may fail to detect a real faire, or raise false fire alarms. In either of those cases, you would rather have the latter rather than the former. However, a false alarm can also be costly and cause unnecessary panic. It is possible to avoid both outcomes by having regular tests done to the fire alarm systems.

Remember, most deaths by fires are not caused by burns, but by smoke inhalation. Smoke can incapacitate individuals so quickly that they are not able to access safe areas or exits on time. A fire system that is tested regularly ensures that occupants will be alerted early enough in case of a fire, giving them time to escape the location.

Fast Response Time by Firefighters

Professional firefighters best handle fire tragedies. If firefighters respond on time, they can save some of the people that might have been trapped in a building due to the fires. In addition, the fire will be put out quickly and this might reduce possible losses.

Your fire alarm system should, therefore, be tested regularly to ensure that, in case of a fire, firefighters can easily find the location and put out the fire. This might also save adjacent buildings from catching fire.

Insurance

Having regular tests on your fire alarm system is an act of compliance with various regulations, and ensures that the system meets all requirements. Your insurance agent may decline to pay for fire damage if it is revealed that regular tests were not done on the fire alarm system. In case of a fire and you seek damages, you will have to show proof that you conducted regular tests on the fire alarm system.

In addition, a working fire alarm system will prevent you from paying costly litigation fees and damages to persons injured in your property – customers or employees. Doing regular tests proves that you were not negligent.