Fire Safety Checklist Template (Weekly, Monthly & Annual Checks)

A monthly CheckFlow schedule starts this checklist for each month. Enter the date of the month’s first weekly alarm test on the first task: every due date counts from it, and the run stays open into the first days of the next month so the last test and any repairs are recorded before the sign-off. The first task also asks how many weekly tests the month has, where the premises are, whether the building has flats in England, and which servicing is due.

• Set up this month’s run: the premises, the first test date and the people — the premises, the month, the date of the first weekly alarm test, how many weekly tests fall in the month, where the premises are, whether the building has two or more homes in England, the servicing due this month, and the responsible person, the coordinator who books the servicing and keeps the record, and the person who does the routine checks
• Plan the weekly tests: the day, the time and the call points — keep a regular test day and time, and list which manual call point each week’s test will use, so a different one is tested each week and every call point is used in turn over the months
• Confirm the servicing visits due this month — for each item ticked on the first task, confirm the date with the contractor or competent person, arrange access, and agree how the alarm will be handled during the visit if it is monitored by an alarm receiving centre
• Tell occupants when the weekly test will happen — staff, visitors, residents or other occupiers of a shared building, so a test is not mistaken for a fire and an alarm at any other time is treated as real
• Carry forward last month’s open defects and actions — once last month’s run is signed off: its open defects, interim measures still in place, repairs booked, and actions from the fire risk assessment that fall in this month

Each week the fire alarm is tested from a different manual call point and the stairway fire doors are checked, as gov.uk’s guide for small non-domestic premises sets out. A month has four or five test days: the first task’s answer adds the fifth. If a test day falls on a day the building is closed, test on the next day it is open and say why.

• Week 1: test the fire alarm from a call point — operate the call point on the rota for this week, check the alarm is heard throughout the premises and the panel resets, and check that fire-resisting doors on stairways close properly under their self-closers
• Week 2: test the fire alarm from the next call point — use the next call point on the rota and make the same checks as in week 1: the alarm heard throughout, the panel reset and the stairway fire doors closed
• Week 3: test the fire alarm from the next call point — the next call point on the rota, with the same checks of the alarm, the panel and the stairway fire doors
• Week 4: test the fire alarm from the next call point — the next call point on the rota, with the same checks of the alarm, the panel and the stairway fire doors
• Week 5: test the fire alarm from the next call point — only in a month with five test days: the next call point on the rota, with the same checks

The Fire Safety Order requires routes to emergency exits, and the exits themselves, to be kept clear at all times where that is needed for safety (article 14). This is the month’s walk-round, on top of the daily checks at opening that are confirmed in Phase 8.

• Walk every escape route and check it is clear — corridors, stairs and routes to the final exits free of storage, waste, furniture and trip hazards, and nothing stored in protected stairways
• Check final exit doors open easily without a key — every final exit and escape door opens easily, push bars and pads work, nothing is locked, chained or blocked, and the way from each door to a place of safety is clear
• Check exit and direction signs are in place and visible — signs where the way out is not obvious, none covered, faded, damaged or removed, and none blocked by new partitions, shelving or displays
• Check the assembly point and the way to it — the route from each final exit to the assembly point is clear, and the assembly point is still usable, for example not taken over by parked vehicles, skips or building works

A monthly function test shows each emergency light comes on when its test switch is operated. Fire doors only hold back fire and smoke when they close fully, so this template checks them every month as its own practice, beyond the weekly stairway door check and the six-monthly condition check.

• Function-test the emergency lighting — operate the test switch or key on each circuit, check every emergency light and lit exit sign comes on, then restore the normal supply and check the units show they are charging again
• Test any domestic-type smoke alarms — battery or mains smoke alarms fitted in the premises, such as in a flat or staff accommodation, tested with their test button; mark this task not applicable if there are none
• Check fire doors are shut, close fully and are undamaged — each fire door closes onto its latch from fully open under its self-closer, is not wedged or propped open, and has no obvious damage to the door, frame, seals or glazing
• Check automatic door releases let their doors close — where doors are held open on releases linked to the fire alarm, check during this month’s alarm test that each one lets its door close; mark this task not applicable if there are none

The monthly visual check of the extinguishers, the alarm panel, the notices and the housekeeping that keeps fires from starting. Buildings in England with two or more homes add the duties of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 that recur through the year.

• Visually check every fire extinguisher — each one in its place, visible and easy to reach, with its pin and seal intact, the gauge in the green where it has one, no damage, and its service label in date
• Check the fire alarm panel and the detectors — the panel shows normal with no fault or disabled zone left on, any fault is logged and reported, and no detector or call point is covered, painted over or blocked
• Check the fire action notices and fire safety signs — fire action notices at call points and exits, extinguisher signs and fire door signs in place and readable, and the notices still match the emergency plan
• Check waste and stored materials are kept clear of ignition sources — waste removed regularly, nothing combustible stored against heaters, electrical intake rooms or plant, and no storage in plant rooms or under stairs
• Check the lifts for firefighters and the essential fire-fighting equipment — only in a high-rise residential building in England: the monthly routine checks of lifts for use by firefighters, evacuation lifts and essential fire-fighting equipment under regulation 7, with any fault not put right within 24 hours reported to the fire and rescue service
• Give new residents the fire safety instructions and fire door information — only in a building in England with two or more homes and common parts residents would escape through: check the fire safety instructions are still displayed where residents will see them, and give anyone who moved in this month a copy with the fire door information as soon as reasonably practicable

Applies only when the first task says servicing is due this month: each item ticked there adds its task here. Gov.uk’s guide for small premises puts the fire alarm service and the fire door condition check every six months, and the emergency lighting test and the extinguisher service every year. Larger premises follow the standards their systems were designed to and the maker’s instructions, as their contractor advises.

• Have the fire alarm serviced by a competent person — the six-monthly inspection and test; keep the contractor’s certificate or report and add any defects it lists to Phase 7
• Check the condition of every fire door — the six-monthly check that each door is undamaged and still a good fit in its frame, with gaps no more than 4 mm except at the bottom, and its seals, closer, hinges and signs in order
• Have the emergency lighting inspected and tested by a competent person — the yearly inspection and test, including a test for the full rated duration where the contractor’s standard or the maker’s instructions call for one; keep the certificate
• Have the fire extinguishers serviced by a competent person — the yearly service, and any longer-interval tests the contractor says are due; keep the certificate
• Have the sprinklers or other fixed system serviced — where a sprinkler, suppression or smoke control system is fitted, the service its maintenance schedule sets for this month; keep the report
• Check the communal fire doors (flats above 11 metres in England) — at least every 3 months under regulation 10 of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, including that each door’s self-closing device works
• Check the flat entrance doors (flats above 11 metres in England) — use best endeavours to check every flat entrance door at least every 12 months, including that its self-closing device works, and record the flats where access was not given and the steps taken to get in
• Hold the fire drill due this month — run it with the Fire Drill & Evacuation Checklist and record the date, how long the building took to clear and anything to put right

Report a defect on the day it is found: do not wait for this phase. Here the month’s defects are reviewed together. Answering Yes adds the interim measures, the repairs and the retest, and anything that should change the fire risk assessment is flagged.

• Review the defects found this month — every fault from the weekly tests, the monthly checks and the servicing reports, with the date it was found, who was told and whether it is fixed
• Put interim measures in place for anything out of action — for example a fire watch, a temporary alarm, extra extinguishers or a closed-off area while a system, door or route is out of action, agreed with the responsible person
• Arrange the repairs with a competent person — each repair with the contractor, the order number and a date, and a chase for anything not fixed by its date
• Retest each repair and record the result — test the alarm, light, door or equipment after the repair, record the result and keep the contractor’s report
• Flag anything that should change the fire risk assessment — repeated faults, a change to the building or its use, or a measure that no longer works as planned, so the responsible person can review the assessment

The month’s checks become the fire logbook record, and the responsible person signs them off. Nothing after the sign-off can be completed until they record a decision. Not signed off adds a task to finish what is missing.

• Confirm the daily exit checks were kept up all month — the checks at opening each day that exit doors are unlocked and open easily and escape routes are clear; record any day they were missed and any problem found
• Complete the month’s fire logbook record — each test and check recorded with its date, result and who did it, the servicing certificates attached, and a note of where the record is kept; a completed run of this checklist can be the electronic record
• Sign off the month’s fire safety checks — the responsible person reviews the tests, checks, servicing and open defects, then signs the month off or sends it back with what is missing
• Finish the missing checks and return the month for sign-off — the month was not signed off: do the checks or records the responsible person listed, then ask them to change the decision, or to un-complete the sign-off and complete it again
• Carry open items into next month’s run — add open defects, interim measures and servicing still to be booked to next month’s checklist, and note anything the servicing calendar should change