# Impairment

A term used when buying fire protection.

A water-based system out of service, which starts a tagging, notification and fire-watch duty.

NFPA 25 leaves the ultimate duty with the property owner even where a service contractor does the work, and an occupant or managing firm takes it on through specific provisions in a lease, written use agreement or management contract. The hinge for a buyer is that NFPA counts a major issue found during inspection or testing as an impairment, planned or not, so the visit that produces the repair quote can start the clock. A system out of service more than ten hours in any twenty-four needs an evacuation, an approved fire watch, a temporary water supply or an approved program to eliminate ignition sources and limit fuel. The owner must assign an impairment coordinator, whose program notifies the fire department, the insurance carrier and the alarm company. Ask whether the company holds coordinator duties on any account by contract, whether it bills for fire watch or absorbs it, and whether tags are being hung and logged. Deficiencies found with no tags behind them are uninsured exposure arriving with the business.

Part of: Buying a Fire Protection Business (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-fire-protection-business)

Source: https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-fire-protection-business/terms/impairment
Not dated: The same editorial definitions as the glossary, inside a trade.

Site index for machines: https://searchspheresource.com/llms.txt