Free Fire Watch Log Template (Printable PDF & Excel)

When you need a fire watch log

You need one whenever a fire watch is ordered. The most common reason is a fire protection system out of service. Under the 2021 International Fire Code (section 901.7), when a required fire protection system is out of service, the fire department and the fire code official must be notified immediately. Where the fire code official requires it, the building must be evacuated or an approved fire watch provided until the system is back in service. Hot work is the other common reason: the same code requires a fire watch during hot work and for at least 30 minutes after it ends.

The code says a fire watch's only duty is to patrol and keep watch for fires, and that they need at least one approved way to notify the fire department. The log is how you show the rounds happened. For when a watch is required and who can stand it, see fire watch requirements and hot work fire watch.

15-minute, hourly or 24-hour fire watch logs

These are all the same log. The interval is how often a round starts, and it's set by your fire code official or whoever ordered the watch, not by the form. A 24-hour fire watch means the watch runs around the clock until the system is restored, not one round a day.

Hourly is the most common interval in published fire department rules. Health care regulators often ask for every 30 minutes. For hospitals and nursing homes, see fire watch in hospitals and nursing homes.

Whatever the interval, write one row per round and start a new sheet each day. This sheet has 12 rows, so a watch around the clock takes more than one page. Number them.

What a fire watch log should include

New York City's fire rule is one of the most specific. It says the fire watch record must show:

Other fire departments ask for the start and end time of each round and the printed name and initials of the person who walked it. This sheet covers all of it:

A filled-in example

Here's the start of an hourly fire watch at a made-up office building while its fire alarm panel is replaced.

Every X has its explanation in the same row, and the times aren't rounded or evenly spaced. That's what a log written during the rounds looks like.

How to fill it in well

• Write each round as it ends. Fill in the start and finish times, your printed name and initials on the spot, not at the end of the shift.
• Never change a time. One Georgia fire department's rules say fire watch personnel "are not permitted to change the time record charts." If you make a mistake, draw one line through it, initial it and write the correction beside it.
• Mark every check. OK, X or N/A. A blank box tells a reader nothing.
• Explain every X. What was wrong, where, and what you did. Use the defects area for anything that needs follow-up.
• Start a new sheet each day, and number the pages so a missing one shows.
• Keep your way to call the fire department on you. A phone, a radio or whatever the fire code official approved.
• Get it reviewed promptly. The same Georgia rules require the charts to be "promptly reviewed" and irregularities investigated. A skipped round is better caught the next morning than at an inspection.

Common mistakes

• Rounds logged at exactly 14:00, 15:00 and 16:00, with identical finish times. It reads like a log filled in afterward.
• Giving the fire watch other jobs, like the front desk. Patrolling should be their only duty.
• Writing "all OK" across the whole building instead of a row per round.
• Using one sheet for several days.
• Leaving off the restoration time, so nobody can tell when the watch ended.
• Forgetting to tell the fire department the system is back in service.

Who maintains the fire watch log

The person on fire watch fills it in, round by round. The building owner, or the impairment coordinator if one is named, keeps the log and makes sure the watch runs, and a supervisor reviews it. In New York City, the first four hours of a watch over an area up to 50,000 square feet can be walked by the impairment coordinator or a trained person the owner designates. After four hours, only fire guards holding an F-01 Certificate of Fitness can do it. Elsewhere, ask your fire code official who can stand the watch.

How long to keep fire watch records

There's no single rule, so ask your fire code official and keep the longest period that applies to you. Published examples range from one to three years:

• Iowa State Fire Marshal (health care): keep the documentation for 1 year.
• California State University, Northridge (its own fire watch procedure): 2 years.
• Minnesota Department of Health (health care): recommends at least 3 years.

Keep any sheet tied to a fire, an injury or an insurance claim longer, and file the sheets by building and date with the rest of the impairment paperwork.

Doing it by scanning instead

A paper log depends on the person on watch writing the truth, and nobody reads it until someone asks. With PatrolBadges, you put a QR sticker or NFC tag in each area, and the fire watch scans it with their phone's camera as they pass. There's no app and no account: they type their name, or a PIN, once a shift. Each scan logs who, when and where with a GPS stamp, and scans that come too fast or too far from the checkpoint are flagged. A short OK/Problem checklist in each area takes the place of the check columns, and a Problem needs a note and opens an incident.

Set the route's schedule to your interval, every 15 minutes or longer, and you're emailed when a round ends with an area unscanned or hasn't started. Each day's report prints, exports to CSV, has a private link and is emailed each morning. It doesn't store Certificate of Fitness numbers, so keep those on file where they're required. New York City's rule allows records kept "through approved electronic measures"; elsewhere, ask your fire code official before relying on a digital log. It's free for 5 checkpoints, and Pro is $9 a month for 10, then $1 each. Keep this sheet as a backup.