Systems Testing

System test reports for many systems are mandatory and must be submitted electronically to the Seattle Fire Department via our online vendor at www.thecomplianceengine.com.

There is a $35 filing fee for submitting a report. One fee is charged per system type, per year, except for hood systems, which are per every six-month service. Repair reports must also be submitted to document completion of any required work. Your contractor (the company you hire to do the testing and maintenance on your building's fire protection systems) is responsible for collecting these fees from their clients and submitting payments along with test reports. 

Reports must be submitted within seven calendar days of the inspection or maintenance completion. Systems with impairments or red-tagged systems must also be reported immediately using the current mandatory impaired systems reporting process. Since January 2019, there has been a late fee of $12 per report. Due to the continued high number of late report submittals, the City has a citation that is written to testing companies for reports that are submitted outside of allowed timelines.

Required Systems Test Reports and Submittal Frequency*

* There are some exceptions from reporting requirements for systems in townhouses, as explained in our Townhouse Fire Protection Systems Information Sheet.

High - Rise Buildings 

• Fire alarm systems in high-rise buildings may have a quarter of the entire system tested quarterly so the entire system is tested annually
• Dampers in all buildings including high-rise buildings may have a quarter of the entire system tested annually so the entire system is tested every four years

Portable Fire Extinguishers

Testing reports are not required for portable fire extinguishers

• Inspected and tested annually
• Tag must be attached with the date and signature of certified technician
• Some people find that it is more cost effectice to purchase a new fire extinguisher than to have an existing extinguisher inspected and tested. If you are pursuing this option, you must ensure that your new extinguisher meets code, such as by ensuring you purchase an extinguisher with the same rating as the one you are replacing

Secondary tests and certain maintenance processes must be performed periodically. The intervals for secondary procedures are 1, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 20 and 50 years depending on the type of system or component and are defined in national standards, including NFPA 25 and NFPA 72.

For your information, the following forms show the set of information for each system type that certified technicians are required to submit electronically to SFD using The Compliance Engine. 

2021 SFC Fire Alarm Install | 2021 SFC Fire Alarm ITM

2021 SFC Automatic Sprinklers – Wet or Dry

2021 SFC BDA/DAS Install | 2021 SFC BDA/DAS ITM

• For BDA: Please have your vendor contact PSERN to coordinate testing and borrow loaner radios: DAS-PSERN@kingcounty.gov.

2021 SFC Clean Agent

BETA 2021 SFC Damper Install | BETA 2021 SFC Damper ITM

2021 SFC Dry Chemical/Spray Booth

2021 SFC Emergency Generator

2021 SFC Fire Alarm Install | 2021 SFC Fire Alarm ITM

2021 SFC Fire Escape

2021 SFC Fire Pump

BETA 2021 Kitchen Hood Install | 2021 SFC Kitchen Hood ITM

BETA 2021 SFC Smoke Control w/SI - Install | BETA 2021 SFC Smoke Control no SI - Install | BETA 2021 Smoke Control ITM

2021 SFC Standpipe

You must notify the Seattle Fire Department of planned or emergency impairments that are anticipated to take a fire safety system out of service for more than eight hours. This notification of impairments lasting more than eight hours allows us to assess the risks and make any operational decisions necessary to ensure the safety of building occupants and firefighters.

Notification and Mitigation

When to provide notification:

• Emergency impairments: Immediately
• Planned impairments: Minimum of five (5) business days in advance. We recommend you notify us immediately upon beginning to plan for the impairment.

Notification Process: 

You are required to follow the two-step mandatory notification process:

• Provide notification by email on the Report of Impaired System Form to sfd_impairments@seattle.gov. You must use our reporting form; no other reporting form will be accepted. 
  • 简体中文

    系统损坏报告表

      简体中文 (Simplified Chinese)
  • 繁體中文系統損壞報告表 繁體中文 (Traditional Chinese)
  • Warbixinta Nidaamka Aan Shaqaynaynin Af-Soomaali (Somali) 
  • Informe Sobre Sistemas Deficientes Español (Spanish)
  • Báo cáo hệ thống sự cố  Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)  
• Submit the system test report and mark it with red tag status to the Seattle Fire Department's third party vendor www.thecomplianceengine.com before the end of the day of the test. Specifically, use the D-template for a “service call” – there is no charge to submit D-template reports or D-template repair reports.

Note: You should notify your insurance carrier, alarm company, building owner/manager and any supervisors or tenants in the affected areas. Tell them what the impairment is and provide an estimate of how long the system(s) might be out of service.

Mitigating Measures:  

When a fire protection system is out of order, it may be necessary for you to take mitigation measures. An approved fire-watch or other approved mitigation is required for impairments lasting more than eight hours. For additional information, see our Client Assistance #5991 Fire Watch as well as possible exceptions for Kitchen Hoods and BDA/DAS (Section 3) and for types of occupancies (Section 7) of Administrative Rule 09.04.

System Restoration

What to do when the system is restored to service:  

When an impaired system is restored to normal working order you need to notify: 

• Seattle Fire Department 
• Insurance carrier 
• Alarm company 
• Building owner or manager 
• sfd_impairments@seattle.gov 

The certified technician who restored the system to service should remove all red tags placed on the system while it was impaired, leaving it tagged with the most recent white (or yellow) tag. The certified technician must email a copy of the repair report to close out the red-tagged system test result to us at sfd_impairments@seattle.gov. In addition, a report of the repair should be provided by the certified technician performing the maintenance to the Seattle Fire Department via the department's third party vendor's website, www.thecomplianceengine.com.

Monitoring Services

What to do when monitoring services are interrupted 

You do not need to report an impairment. Interruption of monitoring should not prevent a fire protection system from functioning.

• The alarm monitoring company must notify you of service interruptions. 
• You must correct any system deficiency in a reasonable time. 

What to do when monitoring services are terminated

You do not need to report an impairment. Termination of monitoring should not prevent a fire protection system from functioning. Termination of monitoring service occurs when monitoring contracts expire or are cancelled.

The monitoring service provider must notify us whenever alarm monitoring services are terminated for fire alarm systems required to be monitored by the Seattle Fire Code. To notify us:

• Send email to sfd_impairments@seattle.gov - do not submit a Report of Impaired System.

Information regarding testing and maintenance for BDA/DAS to meet fire code requirements

• Reports of required testing and maintenance must be submitted to the Seattle Fire Department (SFD) via The Compliance Engine. Beginning February 2023, building owners may wish to combine annual DAS testing with the required work on migrating their DAS to the new PSERN system. Read more here.
• SFD is now using the standard regional forms for commissioning and annual testing that are in use by many jurisdictions in King County. PDF versions of the testing forms are available on our Systems Testing Forms page. Please be aware that completed reports are submitted in the web interface for The Compliance Engine.
• Please email the PSERN radio shop about one week prior to testing at DAS-PSERN@kingcounty.gov to arrange to borrow portable public safety radios and to schedule a time to measure signal level received as part of testing.

PSERN Transition – Effective March 2023 – All In-Building DAS Require Migration Services

In 2023, a voter-approved levy is replacing the aging public safety radio system in King County with a new digital system called the Puget Sound Emergency Responder Network (PSERN). The levy did not provide funds to replace privately owned Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) that are required by the fire code in some buildings to amplify the signal and improve in-building coverage for first responders. Building owners will be required to re-tune or recommission their DAS equipment. King County is responsible for managing the PSERN Project. SFD has prepared a PSERN Transition Information Sheet to aid Seattle property owners in planning.

Further Resources

• “Fire Final” Approval Prior to Required BDA/DAS Sign Off for New Construction During PSERN Transition - use this form to request a “fire final” from the Seattle Fire Department prior to completion of code-required DAS when achieving a certificate of occupancy is impacted by the PSERN transition.
• Radio Coverage Assessment Form - Acceptable Radio Strength in Buildings without use of DAS - use this form to document that a building's emergency responder coverage meets Section 510 requirements without use of BDA/DAS
• Client Assistance Memorandum 5123 - BDA/DAS requirements in buildings
  Client Assistance Memorandum 5971 - BDA/DAS testing and maintenance
• Companies performing BDA/DAS design, installation or testing