The Fire Prevention Bureau meets the day-to-day challenges of providing fire safety services through education, fire code compliance and inspections and investigating fires across the City of Airdrie.
Fire Prevention Bureau is committed to ensuring the safety of the public as their primary focus, by reducing the potential of fire in the built environment. The work is carried out by our fire prevention officers through education. This roll is vital in ensuring that all structures built in the city are in compliance with the Alberta Building and Alberta Fire Codes.
The Airdrie Fire Department (AFD) inspects many commercial buildings on a yearly basis to ensure compliance with the Alberta Fire Code with National Fire Code-Alberta Edition.
Inspections ensure that the building is safe for employees and the public. The AFD uses inspections as an opportunity to educate business owners on the Alberta Fire Code and how to best protect their employees and customers.
During an inspection, AFD looks for hazards such as:
Inspections also provide an opportunity for pre-planning, allowing firefighters to identify:
Prepare your business for inspection by reviewing this pre-inspection checklist.
FIRE AND LIFE SAFETY CHECKLIST FOR REOPENING A BUILDING
With recent announcements from the federal government and many Provinces beginning to allow businesses to reopen, building owners and facility managers will be getting ready to reintroduce occupants to structures that may have been relatively vacant for an extended period. During this unique time, NFPA has encouraged the maintenance of all fire protection and life safety systems in commercial and multi-occupancy residential buildings. However, it is possible that many of the ongoing inspection, testing, and maintenance (ITM) activities required by locally enforced codes and standards may not have been completed for a variety of reasons.
Regardless of the level of ITM performed during this time, it is imperative that building owners and facility managers verify the performance of all building fire protection and life safety systems prior to reoccupation. To assist with these efforts, NFPA has developed a list of factors that should be confirmed by a qualified person before re-opening a building to ensure safety of all its occupants. Based on the assumption that the building was in compliance prior to being closed, the checklist below provides some initial steps to help ensure that the occupancy is safe enough to reopen until a qualified professional can complete the regularly scheduled ITM of all fire protection and life safety systems.
Any alterations to the building that adhere to public health guidelines, such as the installation of physical barriers or automatic door openers, will need to be evaluated to ensure that they are properly designed and installed and do not negatively impact the fire protection and life safety systems currently in place.
Confirm all the following checkpoints for each of the building systems. While this is not a complete list, it does contain many of the items that can be addressed and confirmed by a building owner or facility manager during their initial work to reopen a building.
General
All inspection, testing, and maintenance is up to date on the following systems or building elements:
Water-Based Systems (NFPA 25)
Fire Alarm Systems (NFPA 72)
Fire Extinguishers (NFPA 10)
Means of Egress (NFPA 101)
Electrical (NFPA 70B and NFPA 110)
Confirm that routine maintenance and operational testing is completed for the following:
Relevant NFPA Codes and Standards