A fire protection system is not finished when the last pipe is fitted. It is finished when it has been proved to work — under pressure, at full flow, with every interface behaving as designed. That proof is what commissioning produces, and it is what an auditor or insurer will ask to see.
Water-based systems
- Hydrostatic testing of above-ground and underground pipework, held and witnessed
- Flushing of underground mains before connection
- Fire pump acceptance testing — churn, rated and peak flow, with supply-versus-demand curves plotted against the design calculation
- Valve and flow-switch verification, including tamper and supervisory signalling back to the panel
- System balancing
Detection and alarm
- Device-by-device verification across every loop
- Cause-and-effect testing — confirming each alarm produces the right outputs: HVAC shutdown, damper closure, lift recall, shunt trip, suppression release
- Notification coverage checks for sounders and strobes
- Battery and standby capacity verification
Records that survive an audit
Commissioning to NFPA 3 produces a documented trail, not a verbal assurance. On completion you receive a System Record of Completion listing every certified device by type and count, test results with the values recorded, and signed work-completion certificates.
At TED Bernhardtz that record certified 127 detectors, 68 manual call points, 157 notification devices, 43 monitoring switches and every HVAC, damper and lift interface — each verified individually before handover.
Inspection of existing systems
We inspect systems we did not install — before a purchase, ahead of an audit, or when nobody can say when the pumps were last run. You get a written condition report and a prioritised list of what must be corrected to reach compliance.