Fire Safety Audit

Fire Safety Audit for Factories, Hospitals and Commercial Buildings

A fire safety audit is a structured inspection of a building, its occupants' activities and its fire protection systems, measured against the fire and life safety rules that apply to it. The result is a written report that tells you, item by item, what complies, what does not, why it matters and what to do about it.

DSTechnoverse carries out fire safety audits for factories and warehouses, hospitals and nursing homes, schools and coaching centres, hotels and banquet halls, offices, malls and residential towers. Audits are led by Mohit Malviya, our accredited fire engineer, who also leads our Fire NOC applications and fire installations. That matters because an audit is only useful if its recommendations can be built, tested and accepted by the fire officer; ours are written by someone who does all three.

When You Need a Fire Safety Audit

Some audits are triggered by a rule or a notice; others are simply good management. The common reasons we are called in are:

• Before applying for a Final Fire NOC, to find and fix gaps before the fire officer does.
• Before a Fire NOC renewal, to confirm that systems still work and the building has not drifted from the approved drawings.
• An existing building that has never had a Fire NOC and needs to know what it will take to get one.
• A change of use, extension, new mezzanine, new production line or larger chemical store.
• A notice from the fire department, health department, labour or factory inspectorate, or the licensing authority.
• An insurer's survey, a lender's due diligence, or a buyer or tenant asking for evidence of fire compliance.
• After a fire, a near miss or a false alarm pattern, to understand what failed.
• Routine periodic review as part of a safety management system or a corporate EHS programme.

What Our Fire Safety Audit Covers

An audit that only counts extinguishers misses most of what kills people in fires. Ours looks at the building, the systems and the way the building is run. The full list of points is in our fire safety audit checklist; the main areas are:

• Occupancy and height: the NBC occupancy group and hazard level, which decide every other requirement.
• Means of escape: number, width and location of exits and staircases, travel distances, dead ends, exit doors and their hardware, refuge areas for high-rise buildings.
• Fire separation: compartment walls and floors, fire doors, shaft enclosures, and openings punched through them for cables and ducts.
• Fire tender access: approach roads, turning space, setbacks and obstructions.
• Fire fighting installations: extinguishers, hose reels, wet risers, yard hydrants, sprinklers, fire pumps, water storage and pump room.
• Detection and alarm: panel, detectors, manual call points, sounders, PA, cause and effect with other systems.
• Special risks: kitchens, DG sets, transformers, server rooms, LPG and chemical storage, which may need fire suppression systems.
• Electrical fire risk: overloaded distribution boards, temporary wiring, missing covers and poor cable management.
• Housekeeping and storage: combustible stacking, blocked exits, stored goods under stairs, waste accumulation.
• Management: fire orders, emergency plan, trained fire wardens, drill records and maintenance logbooks.

Standards We Audit Against

The baseline for most buildings in India is Part F (Fire and Life Safety) of the National Building Construction Standards 2026 (NBCS 2026, SP 7:2026), which sets means of escape and fire-fighting installations by occupancy and height. Part F replaced Part 4 of the National Building Code of India 2016 (NBC 2016) from 30 April 2026; NBC 2016 defined high-rise buildings as 15 m or more, and state rules may still cite the 2016 edition until they are updated. The systems themselves are checked against the relevant Indian Standards: IS 2190 for the selection, installation and maintenance of portable extinguishers, IS 2189 for fire detection and alarm systems, IS 15105 for sprinkler systems, IS 13039 for external hydrant systems and IS 3844 for internal hydrants and hose reels.

On top of the national baseline sit the state's building rules and fire services law. In Madhya Pradesh that means the Madhya Pradesh Bhumi Vikas Rules, 2012 (as amended) and the Madhya Pradesh Fire and Emergency Services Act, 2026, with rules under it being notified in stages. Draft rules published in 2026 for shops and establishments proposed periodic fire audits for certain premises; we check their status at the time of each audit rather than assuming. Where an insurer, a client or a corporate standard asks for more than the law, we audit against that as well and mark which findings are legal requirements and which are best practice.

How the Audit Is Carried Out

1. 1Scoping: we agree the buildings and areas to be covered, the reason for the audit and the standard to be used, and ask for drawings, the existing NOC and maintenance records.
2. 2Document review: approved drawings, NOC conditions, previous inspection remarks, AMC reports and test certificates are read before the visit, so the site walk can focus on differences.
3. 3Site walk: every floor, staircase, roof, basement, plant room and external area is inspected, with photographs and measurements of exits, travel distances and clearances.
4. 4System tests: pumps, hydrants, alarms and emergency lighting are tested with your maintenance team present (see below).
5. 5Interviews: the facility manager, security staff and maintenance team are asked how alarms are handled, who operates the pumps and what happens at night.
6. 6Closing meeting: urgent life safety findings are explained on site so they can be fixed immediately, without waiting for the report.
7. 7Report: a written report with the gap register, photographs and an action plan is issued, followed by a review meeting.

What We Focus On in Different Buildings

The same checklist applies everywhere, but the findings that matter most change with the occupancy. Knowing where fires start and where people get trapped in each type of building lets us spend audit time where the risk is. The fire safety requirements by building type guide covers the systems each occupancy needs.

• Hospitals and nursing homes: horizontal evacuation of patients who cannot walk, compartmentation between wards, oxygen manifold rooms and medical gas pipelines, ICU and operation theatre electrical loads, and whether night staff know the evacuation plan.
• Schools and coaching centres: crowded classrooms on upper floors, single staircases, locked or grilled exits, and temporary partitions that have reduced exit widths since approval.
• Factories and warehouses: storage height against sprinkler design, flammable liquids and gases, dust, hot work, forklift charging areas and whether the hydrant ring reaches the far side of later extensions.
• Hotels, restaurants and banquet halls: kitchen hoods and ducts, LPG banks, decorative materials, occupant load during events, and guests unfamiliar with the building.
• Malls, shops and offices: tenant fit-outs that block sprinklers or detectors, basements used for storage, and fire doors wedged open.
• Residential towers: refuge areas used as storage, fire lifts and pressurisation, jammed staircase doors and the fire pump left on manual by the society.

Testing Systems During the Audit

A system that looks right can still fail on the day. Where the building allows it, and with your team operating the plant, we test rather than assume:

• Fire pumps: automatic start of the main pump on pressure drop, diesel pump start and run, jockey pump cut-in and cut-out, and the pressure the system holds.
• Hydrants and risers: pressure at the most remote landing valve and yard hydrant, condition of hoses, couplings and branch pipes.
• Sprinklers: position of control valves, operation of the alarm valve or flow switch through the test and drain arrangement.
• Alarm system: panel status and faults, a sample of detectors and manual call points in each zone, sounder audibility.
• Emergency lighting and exit signs: operation on mains failure.
• Extinguishers: type against the risk, pressure gauge, seal, service tag, mounting and access.
• Fire tank: water level and whether the fire reserve is protected from being drawn for other uses.

The Audit Report: Gap Register and Action Plan

The report is written to be acted on, not filed. Each finding sits in a gap register with the information a manager needs to assign and close it, and the register stays useful as a tracker after the audit.

• Reference number, location and photograph.
• What was found, and the requirement it fails, with the clause or standard named.
• Risk rating: critical (life safety, fix now), major (needed for NOC or renewal) or improvement (good practice).
• Recommended correction, described practically enough for a contractor to price.
• Suggested owner and target date, agreed at the review meeting.
• A summary page for senior management showing the count of findings by rating and the few items that matter most.
• An appendix of test results and the documents reviewed.

Worked Example (Illustrative)

The figures below are illustrative, not taken from any real client. A single-storey engineering unit in Pithampur, around 3,000 m2, with a mezzanine office and a small paint booth, asked for an audit before applying for its Final Fire NOC. The yard hydrant ring and pumps were installed, extinguishers were mounted, and the owners expected a clean report.

The audit found 31 points: 4 critical, 15 major and 12 improvements. The critical items were a locked rear exit used as a store, a diesel pump that would not start because its battery was flat, a fire reserve that the process line could draw down, and a paint booth without suitable extinguishers. The major items included travel distance from the mezzanine exceeding the limit for a single stair, landing valves without hoses, no smoke detection in the electrical room, and no maintenance logbook.

The critical items were closed within days at little cost: clearing the exit, replacing the battery, raising the process suction above the fire reserve and adding suitable extinguishers. The mezzanine needed a second stair, which became the longest job. Because the gaps were found by the audit rather than by the fire officer, the owners could plan the work and apply once, instead of facing repeat inspections.

From Audit to Compliance

An audit report has no value until the gaps are closed. You are free to use any contractor, and the report is written so that the work can be priced by anyone. If you prefer one team to carry it through, our engineer can design and install the corrections and retest them against the original findings:

• Hydrants, risers, pumps and tanks through our fire hydrant system installation service.
• Sprinkler coverage and hazard class corrections through fire sprinkler system installation.
• Detection, call points and sounders through fire alarm system installation.
• Extinguisher selection, refilling and replacement through fire extinguisher supply and refilling.
• Larger retrofits through our fire fighting system installation service.
• Ongoing testing and records through a fire fighting AMC, so the next audit starts from a better baseline.
• The Fire NOC application or renewal itself through our Fire NOC service.

Fire Safety Audits in Indore, Pithampur, Dewas and Across Madhya Pradesh

Fire safety enforcement in Madhya Pradesh has tightened. Indore and Bhopal have seen inspection drives on hospitals, coaching centres and commercial buildings, with registrations suspended and premises sealed where fire safety was missing. The state's new fire services law, passed in 2026, adds penalties for non-compliance. An independent audit is the most reliable way to know where you stand before an inspector arrives.

We audit industrial units in Pithampur, Sanwer Road and Dewas, hospitals and schools across Indore and Ujjain, and commercial and residential buildings in Bhopal and other cities in the state. Projects elsewhere in India are taken on request, audited against that state's fire services rules alongside the NBC.

Why Work With DSTechnoverse for Your Fire Safety Audit

• Audits led by Mohit Malviya, our accredited fire engineer, who also handles Fire NOC applications and fire installations.
• Systems are tested, not just looked at, with your maintenance team taking part.
• Every finding names the requirement it fails, so you can check it and the fire officer will recognise it.
• Findings separated into legal requirements and good practice, so budgets go where they are needed.
• Practical corrections that any competent contractor can price, with our own team available if you want one point of responsibility.
• Based in Indore, serving Pithampur, Dewas, Ujjain, Bhopal and the rest of Madhya Pradesh. Contact us to scope an audit.

Frequently Asked Questions

Guides and Resources

• Fire NOC Consultant →
• Fire Fighting AMC →
• Fire Fighting System Installation →
• Fire Safety Audit Checklist →
• Fire Safety Requirements by Building Type →
• Fire NOC Renewal Guide →