Life safety inspections: what the inspector checks, who performs it, and what happens after

Most commercial buildings answer to a life safety code: NFPA 101 where the state or the jurisdiction has adopted it, the International Building and Fire Codes in many others, and an accreditor's standards on top in healthcare. The life safety inspection is how the jurisdiction checks that the building does. Where a sprinkler inspection tests a system, a life safety inspection looks at the building as a place people have to get out of: the exits, the doors, the lighting, the construction that holds fire and smoke back, and the occupancy rules that keep the crowd inside a size the exits can handle. This guide covers what a life safety inspection is for, what is inspected, who performs it, what happens after, and how to get through the next one clean.

What is a life safety inspection for?

The Life Safety Code exists to get people out of a building alive in a fire, and the inspection checks the features that make that possible. It is performed by the fire inspector from the fire marshal's office, the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ), on a schedule the jurisdiction sets by occupancy; the sections cited below are NFPA 101's, and jurisdictions on the International Fire Code check the same features under its numbering. In healthcare it also takes the form of the accreditor's life safety survey, which reads the same building against The Joint Commission's or DNV's standards, and in some jurisdictions a building owner hires a life safety inspection service to do a pre-inspection walk before the official one.

What happens during the inspection

Feature	What the inspector looks for	Code basis
Means of egress	Enough exits, far enough apart, within travel-distance limits; corridors and aisles clear at their required width; exit discharge clear to the public way	NFPA 101 Chapter 7
Exit doors	Swing with egress where required, open with one motion and no key, panic hardware where required, no illegal locks; the exit door requirements article covers the list	NFPA 101 7.2.1
Exit signs and emergency lighting	Signs lit and visible from every direction of travel; emergency lights tested monthly and annually with records	NFPA 101 7.9, 7.10
Fire doors and rated construction	Doors self-close and latch, not propped, labels intact, annual inspection records; penetrations in rated walls sealed	NFPA 80, NFPA 101 8.3
Occupant load	Posted where required and not exceeded; exits sized to it	NFPA 101 7.3
Interior finish and furnishings	Wall and ceiling finish within the flame-spread class for the occupancy; decorations and draperies flame-resistant where required	NFPA 101 Chapter 10
Fire protection systems	Alarm, sprinklers, extinguishers, and suppression present where the occupancy requires them, with current inspection records from the contractor	NFPA 101 Chapter 9, the NFPA standards
Hazardous areas	Storage rooms, boiler rooms, and similar spaces separated or sprinklered as the occupancy chapter requires	NFPA 101 8.7
Occupancy-specific items	Smoke compartments and corridor doors in healthcare; alarm and sprinkler thresholds in assembly; door locking in detention; and so on by chapter	NFPA 101 Chapters 12 to 42

Who performs it

The official life safety inspection is the AHJ's: an inspector who meets the jurisdiction's qualification requirements, commonly ICC or NFPA fire inspector credentials, working for the local fire marshal or, for state-regulated buildings, the state fire marshal's office. In hospitals and nursing homes the accreditor's surveyor performs a parallel inspection during the accreditation survey, and the building's compliance officer prepares for it with the same records. Fire protection contractors do not perform the life safety inspection, but their reports are its raw material: the inspector reads the alarm, sprinkler, extinguisher, and fire door records to confirm the systems the Code requires are maintained. The fire safety inspections guide covers the contractor's side.

What happens after the inspection

The inspector issues a report listing violations with a correction deadline, commonly 30 days though it varies by jurisdiction and by the severity of the finding, and a re-inspection. Findings are graded by risk: an obstructed exit or a locked exit door is corrected on the spot or the space is closed until it is; a missing record is corrected by producing it or scheduling the contractor. Repeat violations bring fines, and conditions dangerous to life bring an order to vacate. In healthcare, life safety findings from the accreditor go into a plan for improvement with its own deadlines and can affect accreditation.

Getting the best life safety inspection possible

• Walk every egress path monthly, from the farthest room to the public way, opening every door on the route.
• Keep the monthly and annual emergency lighting and exit sign test records current; the testing requirements article covers them.
• Have the contractor's inspection reports for every fire protection system on hand, with the deficiencies from the last one resolved or scheduled.
• Check every fire door closes and latches on its own, and remove wedges and hold-opens that do not release on alarm; the fire door inspection article covers the annual inspection.
• Keep storage out of corridors, stairs, electrical rooms, and the 18 inches below sprinkler heads.
• Post the occupant load where required and know what it is.

Common questions

Is a life safety inspection the same as a fire inspection?

They overlap. The fire inspector's visit covers both the fire code hazards and the Life Safety Code features, and most jurisdictions do them in one visit. The life safety inspection is the egress-and-construction half.

How often is a life safety inspection required?

Set by the jurisdiction and the occupancy. Annual is common; healthcare, assembly, and educational occupancies see the inspector more often, and accredited hospitals are surveyed on the accreditor's cycle as well.

Can a contractor do the life safety inspection?

Contractors inspect and test the fire protection systems the Code requires and produce the records. The life safety inspection of the building itself is the AHJ's, though owners sometimes hire a consultant for a pre-inspection walk.