Top reasons for moving to digital logbooks for fire safety

Fire logbooks are essential for recording fire safety actions and information, ensuring compliance, and monitoring property safety.

However, physical fire logbooks have several disadvantages, including susceptibility to damage and loss.

For fire protection businesses, it's crucial to provide clients with confidence that their properties are managed effectively and that all equipment and processes comply with local fire safety regulations.

To establish yourself as a reliable provider in fire protection, it is important to ensure that your tools and processes are up-to-date and dependable.

In this blog, we’ll explain why it's time to transition from paper logbooks to digital fire logbooks, along with information about what you should include in digital fire records that you can pass on to your customers.

Limitations of traditional paper fire logbooks

Paper fire logbooks have long been the traditional method for recording fire safety information, often found in a physical red book that is manually filled out and shared with those who need the details.

While paper logbooks have played a crucial role in fire safety, they come with significant limitations, including:

• Inaccuracy and incompleteness: Paper logbooks are prone to inaccuracies and incomplete entries, making it challenging to access reliable information.
• Vulnerability: Being physical objects, paper logbooks can be damaged, lost, or inaccessible in an emergency.
• Organizational challenges: They require organization from the ‘responsible person’ and good fire processes to ensure compliance.
• Limited functionality: Paper logbooks can only be updated by one person at a time and lack security measures.

These limitations highlight the need for more reliable and secure digital solutions for fire safety record-keeping.

Why switch to digital fire logbooks?

Digital fire logbooks provide a more efficient way to manage fire safety information compared to traditional paper-based systems.

Some of the key benefits of digital fire logbooks include:

Real-time updates

Digital fire logbooks are updated in real time, which allows emergency responders to quickly access the most up-to-date information about the building’s fire protection systems, layout, evacuation routes, and more. Paper fire logbooks are often incomplete, illegible, or have outdated information that doesn’t account for new changes to the building’s fire safety measures.

Accessibility

Information in digital logbooks can be accessed from any device, allowing for remote management and quicker responses to fire safety issues. Authorized personnel can retrieve important data from a central record, eliminating the need for physical access to a paper logbook.

Better record keeping

Digital logbooks offer a comprehensive audit trail, documenting every action and maintaining detailed records for fire safety compliance and review. This level of documentation is often more reliable than that which can be achieved with paper logbooks.

Integrations

Digital solutions can integrate with other systems, such as ventilation, suppression, extinguishing, and security systems, offering a more holistic view of fire safety. They often also integrate with maintenance schedules, allowing businesses to easily see when fire safety equipment is due to be inspected.

Backup and security

Digital logbooks are stored on secure servers and backed up, reducing the risk of information loss due to damage or misplacement. Paper logbooks are more susceptible to being lost or destroyed.

Environmental benefits

All businesses are expected to reduce their impact on the environment, both by clients and by local and federal government. Using digital fire logbooks reduces paper consumption and minimizes waste.

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What should be included in a fire logbook?

A comprehensive fire logbook is essential for helping you manage compliance and ensuring your premises are safe. Whether paper-based or digital, your logbook should contain comprehensive records of all fire safety checks, maintenance, and incidents. Key components include:

1. Fire evacuation drills and emergency procedures

Your fire logbook should include relevant information about all drills and evacuations, including:

• The date and time of each drill
• Details of participants - including the number of occupants and any visitors
• Evacuation time - how long it took to clear the premises
• Observations - what went well and areas for improvement
• Follow-up actions – any training delivered or changes made as a result of the drill

Regular drills help ensure that staff are confident in the procedure and that evacuation routes and assembly points stay relevant to the building's layout.

2. Records of fire equipment inspection and maintenance

Routine checks and servicing should be logged for all fire equipment, including:

• Fire extinguishers: condition, pressure levels, servicing dates, and expiry dates
• Fire blankets: presence and condition
• Sprinkler systems: inspections, maintenance logs, and water flow tests
• Hose reels: operational checks and maintenance dates
• Emergency lighting: monthly function tests and annual duration tests
• Fire doors: condition, closing mechanism, seals, and signage

Each entry should record the date of inspection, the name of the inspector, any faults identified, and actions taken.

3. Incident reports and follow-up actions

Any fire-related incidents should be documented in the logbook, including:

• False alarms - what triggered them, and whether the cause was resolved
• Fire alarm activations - whether real or accidental
• Equipment malfunctions - e.g. alarm panel faults or sensor issues
• Actual fire events - full timeline, evacuation details, and post-incident actions

This record helps you identify patterns or recurring faults that need further investigation.

Creating a fire safety record-keeping process

Effective fire safety depends not just on equipment and drills, but on consistent, accurate documentation. Well-maintained fire logbooks can help demonstrate compliance, identify trends, and ensure nothing slips through the cracks.

1. Designate a responsible person

Assign someone to manage your fire safety records. This could be a facility manager, safety officer, or another designated team member. They should understand local fire codes and other standards or requirements that apply to your business or facility.

The responsible person will organize inspections and maintenance, document incidents, and ensure follow-up on any outstanding issues.

2. Provide training and clear guidelines

Once you've appointed your responsible person, ensure that they are trained in fire safety documentation, including what to record, how often, and why it matters, so your business or your clients' businesses stay compliant.

Training should include knowledge of standards such as:

• NFPA 101 (Life Safety Code)
• NFPA 10 (Portable Fire Extinguishers)
• NFPA 72 (Fire Alarm and Signaling Systems)

They must also be aware of how long different records must be retained for and who may need access to records during inspections or audits.

3. Use digital fire logbooks

The best thing you can do to improve your fire safety compliance process is to switch to digital fire logbooks.

They offer a modern, efficient way to manage fire safety across teams and locations, while keeping you inspection-ready at all times.

Implementing a digital fire logbook solution with Uptick

Uptick is a fire inspection software platform that's been specifically built for fire protection businesses.

Uptick's software allows fire protection businesses to increase service delivery turnaround whilst ensuring compliance through a comprehensive set of tools purpose-built to support technicians and office staff who manage the service and maintenance of fire and life safety systems and equipment.

Just some of the benefits of using Uptick's fire safety software for your digital fire logbooks include:

Provide clients with access to key data

With Uptick's asset registers, you can transform every fire and security asset into a digital asset. This feature allows your clients to view asset compliance status, completed fire safety checks, service history, and any open deficiencies.

Flexible data capture

Capture all relevant data without being restricted to specific fields with customizable inspection forms. You can collect comprehensive data for any fire and security asset or entire buildings, and make it available to anyone who needs it.

On-demand customer access

The customer portal enables clients to access service reports and critical documentation from a single, central location. This feature reduces the need for repeated report distribution and provides a detailed audit trail of all fire safety actions and information, simplifying the tracking and management of fire safety responsibilities.

Experience our fire inspection software firsthand. Contact us for a bespoke demo, and a team member will arrange a suitable time for you.