What goes in a fire log book

Every commercial building with a fire detection and alarm system needs a log book. It's required by BS 5839-1:2025 and by the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. Auditors will ask for it. Fire Risk Assessors will read it. If something goes wrong, an investigator will reach for it.

A complete log book contains the operational history of your fire safety systems in one place. Here is what should be in it.

System details

At the front of the log book:

• The name and address of the building
• The Responsible Person under the Fire Safety Order
• The fire alarm contractor and their certification
• The category of system (per BS 5839-1: L1, L2, L3, L4, L5, M, P1, P2)
• Date of original commissioning
• Schedule of routine tests

Daily and weekly checks

The weekly fire alarm test is the most-cited entry. A different manual call point should be tested each week, on a rotating schedule, with the date, the call point reference, the engineer or staff member who performed the test, the result, and any faults noted.

Service visits

For every visit by your fire alarm contractor:

• Date of visit and engineer name
• What was tested
• Faults found and corrective action taken
• Devices replaced or modified
• Whether the system was left fully operational
• Signature of the engineer
• Certificate reference

Faults, false alarms, and actuations

Every fault, false alarm, and real actuation gets a separate entry:

• Date and time
• Description of the event
• Which devices activated
• Investigation findings
• Corrective action taken
• Whether the fire and rescue service was called

This is the entry that gets read most carefully after the fact. Be specific.

Modifications

Every change to the system — even moving a smoke detector by a metre — is a modification. Record it. The competent person should sign it off and update the Certificate of Modification.

Where the log book lives

The log book stays on site, normally in or near the fire alarm panel, in a clearly marked location accessible to authorised staff. It's not a contractor document — it belongs to the building.

How we handle this for our customers

For customers on a maintenance contract, the log book is maintained jointly. After each visit we update the relevant entries and file a copy in your customer portal alongside the certificate. You get the physical book; we get a tamper-evident audit trail.

If your current log book is patchy or missing, email hello@eburyfire.co.uk — we'll review what you have and tell you what's missing before the next FRA review.