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Glossary

Record of completion

The form the installer fills out once, when a new or altered fire alarm system is accepted: the system's birth certificate, not its checkup.

A record of completion is the form the installing contractor fills out one time, when a new or altered fire alarm system is accepted. It is the system's birth certificate, not its checkup: it records what was installed, who installed it, who monitors it, and who signed off.

NFPA 72 publishes the form and prints the instruction right on it: the installation contractor completes it at system acceptance and approval. The 2010 edition version runs 12 pages and covers the property, the AHJ, the installing and service contractors, the panel, circuit classes and pathways, every initiating device and notification appliance, power supplies, software revisions, monitoring arrangements, and any deviations from the standard. There are signature blocks for the installing contractor, the service contractor, the supervising station, the owner's representative, and the AHJ.

Where it comes from

NFPA 72, the National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code. The form has moved with the editions: Figure 4.5.2.1 in the 2002 edition, Figure 10.18.2.1.1 in the 2010 edition, and section 7.8.2 of Chapter 7 (Documentation) from the 2013 edition forward. The obligation stays the same throughout: the installer completes it at acceptance, and it stays with the system's documentation from then on.

You do not need to buy the standard to see the form. The Illinois Department of Public Health hosts the 2010 edition version, and the DC Department of General Services attaches the 2002 edition version to its construction contracts.

On the job

This is acceptance paperwork, so it sits between you and getting paid. On new construction the AHJ wants it in hand at or before the witness test, and a missing or wrong form bounces the submittal, which pushes the certificate of occupancy, which pushes final payment and retainage. The fix costs an hour of office time. The delay costs weeks.

It also matters long after the install. The form names the monitoring arrangement and states whether a test and inspection contract is in effect, so it is the first document to pull when you take over an account: it tells you what is supposed to be on the system before you count devices. And when the system is altered, the record of completion is what gets revised or reissued, not the annual report.

Record of completion versus Inspection and testing report

The record of completion is filed once, by the installer, at acceptance. The inspection and testing report is filed every cycle, by the service contractor, after periodic functional testing. NFPA 72 has kept them separate for decades: the 2002 edition record of completion tells you to attach test documentation on a separate Inspection Testing Form, Figure 10.6.2.3, and the 2013 edition lists the Record of Completion and the Record of Inspection and Testing side by side in section 7.8.2.

The difference shows up at the counter. When the AHJ asks for acceptance paperwork on a new or altered system, hand over the record of completion. When they ask for proof the system was tested this cycle, hand over the inspection and testing report. Contractors upload last year's annual on an acceptance submittal and get bounced for it.

Where it varies

Which version of the form you file depends on the adopted edition in your jurisdiction, and the figure number in the footer changes with it. Illinois circulates the 2010 edition form for licensed health care occupancies. DC attaches the 2002 edition form to public construction contracts. Some AHJs add a cover sheet or a local variant of their own, so ask which form they want before the witness test, not after.

Worked example

A contractor finishes a panel replacement at a two-story medical office outside Little Rock. The AHJ witnesses the reacceptance test and asks for the completion package. The office manager uploads the most recent annual inspection report instead, and the submittal comes back rejected a week later. The crew fills out the record of completion for the altered system, collects the installer and central station signatures, resubmits, and passes review 16 days later than the job needed.

Sources

  1. The record of completion is completed by the system installation contractor at the time of system acceptance and approval.. Fire Alarm and Emergency Communication System Record of Completion (Illinois DPH hosted NFPA 72 form) (NFPA 72 (2010) Fig. 10.18.2.1.1 via dph.illinois.gov).
    “To be completed by the system installation contractor at the time of system acceptance and approval.”
  2. The 2010 edition form is designated Figure 10.18.2.1.1 and runs 12 pages.. Fire Alarm and Emergency Communication System Record of Completion (Illinois DPH hosted NFPA 72 form) (NFPA 72 (2010) Fig. 10.18.2.1.1 via dph.illinois.gov).
    “NFPA 72, Fig. 10.18.2.1.1 (p. 1 of 12)”
  3. The 2002 edition record of completion is Figure 4.5.2.1 and carries a signature line for the AHJ's representative.. Fire Alarm System Record of Completion (DC DGS contract attachment, NFPA 72 2002 edition) (NFPA 72 (2002) Figure 4.5.2.1 via dgs.dc.gov).
    “(signed) representative of the authority having jurisdiction”
  4. The 2002 edition record of completion directs test documentation to a separate Inspection Testing Form, so the two forms are distinct in the standard.. Fire Alarm System Record of Completion (DC DGS contract attachment, NFPA 72 2002 edition) (NFPA 72 (2002) Figure 4.5.2.1 via dgs.dc.gov).
    “Documentation in accordance with Inspection Testing Form, Figure 10.6.2.3, is attached”
  5. From the 2013 edition the record of completion and record of inspection and testing forms are addressed at NFPA 72 section 7.8.2 in Chapter 7.. Forms for Record of Completion, Record of Inspection and Testing, and Risk Analysis (UpCodes, NFPA 72 2013 section 7.8.2) (NFPA 72 (2013) 7.8.2 via up.codes).
    “Forms for Record of Completion, Record of Inspection and Testing, and Risk Analysis”

Related terms

  • Witness test. A witness test is a test the AHJ's inspector watches you run in person, instead of just reading your report afterward.
  • Central station monitoring. A listed company monitors your alarm signals and, under the same contract, handles runner response, testing, and record-keeping.
  • Functional test. A functional test makes the device actually operate and proves the signal landed. If nobody flowed water or tripped anything, it was just a look.
  • AHJ (authority having jurisdiction). The AHJ is whoever can approve or reject the work: sometimes the fire marshal, sometimes the building official, the state, or the insurance company.
  • Adopted edition. The edition of a code or standard your state or city actually enforces, which is usually not the newest one NFPA sells.

Verified August 7, 2026 against the sources above. Adopted editions and local amendments vary; your authority having jurisdiction has the final word. Nothing here is legal advice.