Weekly fire alarm test record

A twelve-month record for the routine weekly test of a fire alarm system, laid out as four quarterly sheets of thirteen weeks, with a faults and actions log and a separate servicing record.

What this record is for

To give the responsible person a single, durable record showing that the system has been tested consistently, that faults were identified, and that they were acted on.

The form is designed around the person who actually does the test: someone walking to a call point on a Monday morning with a key in one hand and a clipboard in the other. It asks which call point was tested, so that a premises working through them in a fixed order can show over time that every call point has been covered — rather than testing the same convenient one fifty-two times and producing a complete-looking record.

Who it is for

Responsible persons under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and the people who carry out the weekly test on their behalf: facilities managers, caretakers, site supervisors, building managers and duty managers in offices, schools, retail units, care settings and the common parts of residential blocks.

It is written to be usable by a competent staff member who has been shown how to test the system — not by a fire alarm engineer.

What it does not do

This is a general template. It records that a test happened. It does not tell you whether your testing regime is the right one for your building, which is a question for your fire risk assessment.

It does not replace, and must not be presented as:

• a competent fire risk assessment;
• professional fire-engineering advice;
• a fire door survey;
• statutory inspection, testing, servicing or maintenance of the alarm system by a competent person;
• premises-specific legal advice.

The weekly user test is a user activity. It sits alongside, and never in place of, periodic inspection and servicing by a competent fire alarm engineer. A building whose only alarm activity is the weekly test is not maintained. That is why the servicing record is a separate page rather than another column on the weekly grid.

No servicing, testing or inspection interval is stated anywhere in this resource. The weekly rhythm it describes is the premises' own arrangement, not an instruction from us; the servicing table asks when the next visit is due and asserts nothing about when that should be.

Available formats

The PDF is the one to print. It is A4 landscape, ten pages, and is the format the grid was designed around — thirteen weeks to a sheet at a row height you can actually write in.

The Word file is the same document, editable, for anyone who needs to adapt the premises details or the column headings before printing.

The spreadsheet carries the same columns for those keeping digital records, with the fifty-two weeks pre-numbered, drop-down lists on the yes/no columns, and separate sheets for the faults log and the servicing record. It contains no formulas: nothing recalculates, and what you type is what is recorded.

Version, issue and review

Version 1.0, first published 1 August 2026. Reviewed 1 August 2026 by Batir Turakulov, Fire Engineer (MIFireE) and Chartered Health & Safety Professional (CMIOSH). Next review due 1 August 2027.

The version number is in the filename, because a document downloaded today has to be able to identify itself a year from now in somebody's folder.

Accessibility

The PDF is tagged, with a document title, en-GB language metadata, a real heading structure and table headers that repeat across page breaks. The Word file carries the same title, language and heading structure. The spreadsheet has named worksheets, a frozen header row that is also set as the print title, no merged cells in any data range, and drop-down lists rather than free text on the columns that are filtered — so it can be worked through by keyboard.

There is no printable HTML version of this resource, and that is deliberate. Nobody reads this document; they fill it in, repeatedly, and keep it. The artefact is a ruled grid that lives in a logbook or on a wall-mounted clipboard, and an HTML equivalent would be a worse version of the thing people actually want. The explanatory content lives on this page instead.

Licence and permitted use

Free to use and adapt for your own premises. Not for resale or republication. © Lion Risk Management Solutions.

Disclaimer

This form is intended solely as a record of routine weekly user testing. It is not a fire risk assessment, does not certify compliance, and must not be relied upon to determine whether the fire detection and alarm system is adequate, correctly designed, or properly maintained. It cannot confirm system category, coverage, cause and effect, battery condition, or the integrity of concealed wiring and devices. The weekly user test is not maintenance. Where defects are identified or compliance is uncertain, advice should be obtained from a suitably competent person.