Construction Period Services

Fire Protection During Construction

EB Life Safety provides construction period fire protection engineering services including system commissioning, shop drawing review, and construction administration.

Field Record Controls

Inspection reports should distinguish observed work from unobserved concealed work, identify the visit date and area, and connect each open item to the responsible trade and required verification. The closeout index should retain approved revisions, certificates, photographs, and limitations in a form the owner can maintain. This helps facilities staff understand what was actually verified before turnover.

Keeping the Installed Work Aligned

Construction-period review connects the permitted design to field installation. EB Life Safety can review fire protection submittals, RFIs, substitutions, and coordination drawings for consistency with the design intent, specifications, and applicable code basis. This review is not a substitute for the installing contractor's means, methods, quality control, or delegated design responsibilities.

Field Observations and Coordination

Periodic observations can focus on sprinkler piping, alarm devices and pathways, fire-rated assemblies, firestopping, smoke-control equipment, and interfaces with mechanical, electrical, and vertical-transportation systems. Findings should identify the location, observed condition, reference document, and recommended next action. Access, concealment, and construction sequencing limit what can be verified during any visit.

Testing and Closeout

The team can help coordinate hydrostatic and flow testing, alarm acceptance, smoke-control commissioning, fire pump testing, integrated testing, and AHJ inspections when those activities apply. Closeout records should reconcile approved changes, test results, deficiencies, training information, and as-built documentation. The project schedule and acceptance requirements are set by the owner, contractor, permit, and AHJ.

Managing Changes in the Field

Construction rarely follows the first coordination drawing without questions. A relocated beam can change sprinkler coverage, a ceiling revision can affect detectors and notification appliances, and a mechanical change can alter smoke-control airflow or damper access. A useful RFI response states the condition being evaluated, identifies the affected approved document, explains the code or design basis, and records who must update the drawing or submittal. EB Life Safety can help the team review these changes for fire protection and life safety effects, but the architect, engineer of record, and installing contractor retain their respective responsibilities. Field observations should be scheduled at meaningful milestones: before concealment where rated barriers and firestopping can be seen, during installation when equipment and pathways are accessible, and before testing when controls and interfaces can be exercised. Photographs and location references make the observation useful without suggesting that every concealed component was inspected. When a system is impaired, the contractor and owner should follow the approved impairment procedure, notify the appropriate parties, provide temporary protection where required, and restore the system promptly. Closeout should include the final approved changes, inspection reports, certificates, test records, operating instructions, training records, and a list of unresolved limitations. This organized record gives the owner and AHJ a clear basis for future maintenance and inspections. A weekly coordination review can prioritize items that will soon be concealed or that affect another trade's installation sequence. The team should avoid accepting a field workaround verbally when the change affects a permit document or life safety sequence; it should be recorded through the project's RFI, submittal, or change process. Where the observation scope is periodic, the report should state the visit date and areas seen so later readers do not infer continuous supervision.

Related Services

• Fire alarm and sprinkler design
• Smoke-control rational analysis
• AHJ inspection support

Frequently Asked Questions