Could your board produce proof of fire code compliance right now?

Do you have a fire safety plan approved by the Chief Fire Official?Critical

Proof: The plan itself, carrying the fire department's approval stamp or letter.

Has the plan been reviewed in the last 12 months, with the review date recorded on it?Critical

Proof: A dated review entry or revision history page on the plan.

Does the plan include a current list of persons requiring special assistance, updated in the last 12 months?Critical

Proof: The list, with a date, held where the plan says it is held.

Is a copy of the plan at the designated on-site location, reachable by responding firefighters?

Proof: The plan box or panel-room copy, matching the location the plan itself names.

Was the required fire drill conducted in the last 12 months, and is it recorded?

Proof: A dated drill record naming who participated and what scenario was run.

Does every suite have smoke alarms adjacent to each sleeping room and on each storey without a sleeping area?Critical

Proof: A unit-level schedule, not a sample. Two-storey and stacked units are where the storey rule bites.

Are smoke alarms tested and maintained on schedule, with none past the manufacturer's replacement date, and is it recorded?Critical

Proof: The testing record per suite, and the replacement dates for the devices.

If any suite relies on detectors in a CAN/ULC-S540 residential fire warning system in place of stand-alone smoke alarms, are those detectors maintained as if they were alarms?New 2026

Proof: The maintenance record for the system, on the same schedule the alarms would be on.

Answer N/A if the building does not have what this question asks about.

Do you know whether the building has a fuel-burning appliance, a fireplace, a storage garage, or is served by a forced-air fuel-burning appliance located outside the building?CriticalNew 2026

Proof: A written answer for each of the four triggers, from a mechanical walkthrough rather than from memory.

If a forced-air fuel-burning appliance directly heats your public corridors, are there CO alarms in those corridors, no more than 25 m apart, with at least one in each portion of a divided corridor?CriticalNew 2026

Proof: A floor-by-floor device schedule showing corridor placements and spacing.

Answer N/A if the building does not have what this question asks about.

Is there a CO alarm in every service room or area containing a fuel-burning appliance?CriticalNew 2026

Proof: A device in each such room, on the schedule.

Do suites sharing a wall or floor/ceiling with a storage garage or an appliance service room have alarms adjacent to each sleeping area AND on each storey without a sleeping area, and are there alarms adjacent to sleeping rooms that are not inside a dwelling unit?CriticalNew 2026

Proof: A unit-level schedule, not a building-level count, covering staff and guest sleeping rooms as well as suites.

Answer N/A if the building does not have what this question asks about.

Are all CO alarms listed to CSA 6.19 or UL 2034, and mounted at the manufacturer's stated height?

Proof: The listing mark on the devices, and the installation instructions on file.

Is every CO alarm within its manufacturer's service life, with none past its expiry date, and is the testing recorded?Critical

Proof: A device schedule carrying each alarm's expiry or manufacture date, plus the testing record. An alarm with no legible date is treated as expired.

Is every alarm next to a sleeping area audible throughout that sleeping area with the doors between them closed?

Proof: A tested result, not an assumption.

Was your most recent annual fire alarm inspection performed and reported to CAN/ULC-S536:19, on the standardized report form?CriticalNew 2026

Proof: The report itself. The current form runs eighteen-plus pages and cannot be customized, so a short bespoke vendor report is a red flag.

Were batteries tested by functional or load test with the results recorded, rather than with a capacity meter?New 2026

Proof: Recorded per-battery results in the inspection report.

Is there a separate deficiency list with explicit standard references, and has the owner signed off on completed corrections?CriticalNew 2026

Proof: The deficiency section of the report, with sign-offs against each corrected item.

Does the Confirmation section of your annual report record that ancillary devices were actually operated: door releases, hold-opens, elevator recall, fan and damper controls?CriticalNew 2026

Proof: The Confirmation page of the S536 report, naming each ancillary device that was operated during the test.

Do you hold monthly fire alarm logs on the prescribed forms for the last 12 months?Critical

Proof: Twelve dated monthly logs on the standard form.

Are the sixteen required fire alarm documents physically on site?New 2026

Proof: Installation certificates, battery logs, prior inspection reports and the rest, in the panel room or management office in the building.

Are the keys and any special tools for the fire alarm system with on-duty supervisory staff?

Proof: Keys held on site by whoever is on duty, at any hour.

Is your central station monitoring documented as compliant with NFPA 71 or CAN/ULC-S561?

Proof: A monitoring certificate naming the standard.

Do you know whether any fire protection or life safety system was installed or modified on or after 1 January 2020?CriticalNew 2026

Proof: A written list of capital work since 2020: fire panel replacements, sprinkler alterations, access control changes, elevator modernization. An empty list is a valid answer, as long as someone checked.

If yes to the above, can you produce the CAN/ULC-S1001 integrated testing report for that work?CriticalNew 2026

Proof: The integrated test report, and a record of the recurring test cycle.

Answer N/A if the building does not have what this question asks about.

Can every exit door in the building be opened from the inside without a key, a tool, or special knowledge?CriticalNew 2026

Proof: A walkthrough of every exit door, including ones nobody thinks of as fire doors.

Do any electromagnetic locks or access control devices on exit doors have Chief Fire Official approval or documented Building Code compliance?Critical

Proof: The approval letter, or the permit record for the installation.

Answer N/A if the building does not have what this question asks about.

Have you tripped the fire alarm and watched every electromagnetically locked or access-controlled exit door actually release, in the last 12 months?Critical

Proof: A dated test record naming each door, signed by whoever witnessed it, confirming the lock dropped on the alarm signal.

Answer N/A if the building does not have what this question asks about.

Are corridors, stairwells, and exit paths clear of stored items, furniture and waste?Critical

Proof: A dated walkthrough record, ideally photographed.

Are there storage lockers or stored items in the underground parking garage that were not part of the original approved design?

Proof: A garage walkthrough, plus the original design documents if you have them.

Is there any furniture in corridors or lobbies that serve as access to exits?

Proof: A walkthrough listing each piece and where it sits.

Does every such piece qualify under one of the four routes: solid wood, TB117 upholstery documented on site in a corridor or lobby with smoke detection, groupings under 4.6 m squared spaced 3 m apart in a space that is both sprinklered and detected, or Chief Fire Official approval?New 2026

Proof: For upholstered pieces, the TB117 documentation affixed to the furniture or retained on the premises for the Chief Fire Official, plus confirmation that the space has the detection, and for the grouping route the sprinklering, that the route depends on.

Answer N/A if the building does not have what this question asks about.

Are sprinkler, standpipe and extinguisher inspections current, with certificates or tags to prove it?Critical

Proof: Current tags on devices, and the servicing reports on file.

Is emergency lighting tested on schedule, with results recorded?

Proof: Dated test records showing duration tests, not just a visual check.

After any contractor work, were penetrations in fire-rated walls and floors resealed and recorded?Critical

Proof: Firestopping records or photos tied to each project.

Could you produce the last 12 months of fire records on demand, today, from inside the building?Critical

Proof: Try it. Ask your manager to produce them in ten minutes.

Does the board see fire compliance status at least quarterly, minuted?Critical

Proof: A standing agenda item and the minutes recording it.

Is every open notice of violation or inspection order tracked with a named owner and a deadline?Critical

Proof: A tracker showing each order, who is responsible, and the target date.

Do you know whether your municipality has passed an administrative monetary penalty by-law under O. Reg. 260/25?New 2026

Proof: The by-law and its penalty schedule, or written confirmation that none exists.

For investor-owned units, have you written to owners confirming that the landlord, not the tenant, carries the in-suite alarm duty?New 2026

Proof: The circulated letter or notice, and the date it went out.