What Is a Fire Watch? Duties, Rules and When Your Building Needs One
Updated
A fire watch is one or more trained people assigned to patrol a building or job site, look for fire, and raise the alarm. It is used when a fire alarm or sprinkler system is out of service, during and after hot work, or when a fire official orders it. The person watches for the fire that the broken system would have caught.
If you’re reading this, a fire marshal, sprinkler contractor or general contractor has probably just told you that you need one, and there’s probably a deadline attached.
What a fire watch is
The International Fire Code (IFC), the model code many state and local fire codes are built on, defines a fire watch as:
“A temporary measure intended to ensure continuous and systematic surveillance of a building or portion thereof by one or more qualified individuals for the purposes of identifying and controlling the hazards, detecting early signs of unwanted fire, raising an alarm of fire and notifying the fire department.”
Three words in there do most of the work. “Temporary” means a fire watch fills a gap; it never stands in for a working alarm or sprinkler system for good. “Continuous and systematic” means someone is on duty for the whole period and walks a set route, instead of checking in when they get a chance. And the last part, raising the alarm and calling the fire department, is why the job exists: until the real system is back, the person on watch is the building’s detection system.
You’ll also see it spelled “firewatch,” and the person called a fire watcher, fire watchman or fire watch guard. They all mean the same role.
When does a building or job site need a fire watch?
A fire alarm or sprinkler system is out of service
IFC Section 901.7 (2024 edition) says:
“Where a required fire protection system is out of service, the fire department and the fire code official shall be notified immediately and, where required by the fire code official, the building shall be either evacuated or an approved fire watch shall be provided for all occupants left unprotected by the shutdown until the fire protection system has been returned to service.”
So the choice is evacuate or post a fire watch. For an occupied apartment building, hotel or hospital, a fire watch is usually the only practical option. Section 901.7.1 also makes the building owner responsible: the owner assigns an impairment coordinator, and “in the absence of a specific designee, the owner shall be the impairment coordinator.”
Impairments can be planned, such as a sprinkler riser drained for a tenant buildout, or unplanned, such as a failed fire alarm panel or a frozen pipe. Sprinkler systems also have their own impairment procedures in NFPA 25, Chapter 15. Local fire departments often add their own rules on how soon a fire watch has to start and how often the patrols run, so call your fire marshal’s office before you set one up.
Hot work: welding, cutting, brazing and torch work
Under OSHA’s general industry rule, 29 CFR 1910.252(a)(2)(iii), fire watchers are required when welding or cutting is done “in locations where other than a minor fire might develop,” or when any of these is true:
- Appreciable combustible material is within 35 feet of the work.
- Easily ignited combustibles are farther than 35 feet away but could be reached by sparks.
- Wall or floor openings within 35 feet expose combustible material, including in concealed spaces.
- Combustibles sit on the other side of a metal wall, partition, ceiling or roof and could ignite by conduction or radiation.
On construction sites, 29 CFR 1926.352(e) applies: when “normal fire prevention precautions are not sufficient, additional personnel shall be assigned to guard against fire.” Hot work has its own timing rules, covered below and in our guide to construction fire watch for hot work.
A fire marshal or AHJ orders it
The fire code official (often called the AHJ, or authority having jurisdiction) can order a fire watch for conditions beyond broken systems. The Alabama State Fire Marshal’s fire watch procedure, for example, lists cases “when adequate egress is not available, when demolition of a building with hazardous conditions exists, or when a fire alarm or sprinkler system are in disrepair or nonfunctional.” Once ordered, the watch stays in place until the official releases it.
Events and crowded occupancies
Assembly spaces, temporary events and venues with large crowds can need dedicated fire safety staff as a condition of a permit. New York City is the clearest example. The FDNY issues separate certificates for “Indoor Place of Assembly Safety Personnel” (F03) and “Temporary Indoor/Outdoor Place of Assembly Safety Personnel” (F04). Buildings where people sleep can also get tighter patrol schedules during an impairment (see the Alabama example below), which is why hotel fire watch is its own kind of assignment.
What does a fire watch guard do on a shift?
The fire code official sets the details, but the core duties look much the same across jurisdictions.
Patrols on a fixed schedule
The guard walks every affected area on a set route. The schedule depends on the AHJ. The Alabama State Fire Marshal’s procedure (as published by Gulf Shores Fire Rescue) requires patrols every 15 minutes “if the facility has people sleeping, is an institutional facility or an occupied assembly facility,” and every 30 minutes otherwise. The Village of Nyack, NY checklist requires each affected floor to be patrolled once per hour. Use the number your fire official gives you.
Keeps a written log
Every round is recorded. Alabama’s procedure says the log shall include the “address of the facility, time of each patrol, name of the fire watch person, notes for other related activities performed.” Some fire departments, Nyack’s included, want a copy when the watch ends, so keep the log on site and readable.
Keeps extinguishers within reach
For hot work, OSHA 1910.252 says “Fire watchers shall have fire extinguishing equipment readily available and be trained in its use.” They are to fight a fire “only when obviously within the capacity of the equipment available, or otherwise sound the alarm.”
Calls 911 and raises the alarm
With the alarm system down, nobody else will make that call. The guard needs a working phone or radio and the exact street address. Alabama requires fire watch staff to “know the exact address of the property and how to report a fire or other emergency condition by calling 9-1-1.”
Watches exits and hazards, too
Nyack’s checklist tells fire watch personnel to “keep diligent watch for fires, obstructions to means of egress and other hazards.” A blocked stair door or a propped-open fire door goes in the log and gets fixed.
Does nothing else
Alabama says fire watch personnel “shall not be permitted, while on duty, to perform any other duties.” A front-desk clerk or a site laborer who walks the building between other tasks is not a dedicated fire watch.
Notifying the fire department and fire code official under IFC 901.7 is the owner’s or impairment coordinator’s job, and it happens before the watch starts. The guard’s log should show when the watch began and when it ended.
Fire watch vs. hole watch vs. fire guard
These terms get mixed up, especially on industrial and construction jobs.
- Fire watch is the general term: a dedicated person watching for fire during an impairment or hot work.
- Fire guard is the term New York City uses. In NYC the person must hold the right FDNY Certificate of Fitness, such as F01 “Citywide Fire Guard for Impairment” or F60 “Fire Guard for Torch Operations.”
- Hole watch is a different job. It is trade slang for the confined space attendant under OSHA 29 CFR 1910.146, “an individual stationed outside one or more permit spaces who monitors the authorized entrants.” A hole watch protects the workers inside a tank or vault, and does no duties “that might interfere with the attendant’s primary duty to monitor and protect the authorized entrants.” It isn’t a fire watch, and one person shouldn’t be assigned both jobs at the same time.
Who can perform a fire watch?
The IFC says “qualified individuals,” and the fire code official decides what that means. In practice it varies:
- For hot work under OSHA, the employer can assign its own workers, as long as they’re trained on the extinguishing equipment and know how to sound the alarm.
- For a system impairment, the fire code official decides whether trained building staff, a security company or a certified fire guard is acceptable. Either way, expect the fire watch to be that person’s only duty while on watch.
- In New York City, the person needs the FDNY Certificate of Fitness for that specific type of fire guard work.
- If you hire an outside company, its guards may also need a state or city security license. Those rules vary by state.
If you’re looking for fire watch work rather than hiring for it, these same rules apply to you: ask the local fire department or security licensing agency what certificate the job requires.
How long does a fire watch last?
It depends on why the fire watch was posted.
For a system impairment, it lasts until the system works again. IFC 901.7 requires the fire watch “until the fire protection system has been returned to service.” A one-day panel repair means one day of fire watch. A sprinkler retrofit can run for weeks, and some impairment watches run 24 hours a day until the repair is signed off. That is where a 24-hour fire watch comes in.
For hot work, the watch covers the work itself plus a set time afterward, because materials can smolder and catch fire after the torch is off.
- OSHA 1910.252: “A fire watch shall be maintained for at least a half hour after completion of welding or cutting operations.”
- OSHA 1926.352(e) (construction): “for a sufficient period of time after completion of the work to ensure that no possibility of fire exists.”
- NFPA 51B: NFPA’s hot work safety fact sheet, written for the 2019 edition, says “the fire watch must remain on site for a minimum of 60 minutes to monitor for smoldering fires,” and the permit authorizing individual can require longer.
When more than one rule applies, follow the strictest. Your jurisdiction’s adopted fire code and edition decide which hot work rules apply, so check with the AHJ.
When a fire marshal orders the watch, it lasts until the official releases it in writing.
Frequently asked questions
What does fire watch mean?
A fire watch means one or more trained people are assigned to patrol a building or work area, look for fire, and raise the alarm. It is a temporary measure used when a fire alarm or sprinkler system is out of service, during and after hot work, or when a fire code official orders one.
Is a fire watch the same as a fire guard?
The job is the same. “Fire guard” is the term the New York City Fire Code uses, and in NYC the person must hold the matching FDNY Certificate of Fitness, such as F01 for impairments or F60 for torch operations. Most other jurisdictions say “fire watch.”
What is the difference between a fire warden and a fire watcher?
A fire warden is usually a staff member named in a building’s emergency plan who helps people evacuate their floor when an alarm sounds. A fire watcher is assigned to patrol for fire, often because the alarm or sprinkler system is not working, and does no other work while on duty.
Does a fire watch replace a broken fire alarm or sprinkler system?
No. A fire watch covers the gap while the system is being repaired. The International Fire Code requires the watch until the fire protection system has been returned to service, so the repair still has to happen.
Need a fire watch posted?
We staff planned fire watch for impairments, renovations and hot work, and 24-hour fire watch when a system fails without warning. Call and tell us what’s out of service and what your fire marshal requires.