Fire Guard Duties During an Impairment (F-01)

An F-01 fire guard is hired for one reason: a building's sprinkler, standpipe, fire alarm or other fire protection system isn't working, and a person has to do part of the job the system normally does. The FDNY's F-01 study booklet spends most of its pages describing what that person does from the start of a shift to the end of it.

This article follows a shift in that order, using only what the booklet (revised January 2026) says. It is a study aid for the F-01 exam, not safety, legal or compliance advice. What a particular building requires, and what you are told to do on a particular site, is decided by your employer, the building's responsible people and the FDNY. When their instructions and anything here differ, theirs apply.

Why the role exists

The booklet's point is simple: an impaired system means detection, notification or extinguishing may not happen, and people in the building may not realize it. The fire guard's patrol fills that gap. The booklet defines a fire watch as continuous, systematic surveillance to find and control fire hazards, spot early signs of fire, raise the alarm and notify the FDNY.

It also sets the scale of the job. Every affected area is patrolled at least once an hour, no single guard covers more than 50,000 square feet, and impairment fire guards are required around the clock until the systems are restored. FDNY personnel may sometimes be on scene and give directions, such as how many guards are needed.

Before the first patrol: orientation

The booklet says a fire guard arriving at the affected area should get an orientation from someone familiar with and responsible for the building's fire protection systems. That might be the Fire and Life Safety Director (FLSD) in an office building or hotel, the construction site fire safety manager on a construction site, the impairment coordinator, the building owner or other on-site staff. If there is no FLSD, the guard talks to the owner or the owner's designated person.

By the end of orientation, the booklet says the guard should know:

1. the entry routes to the affected area;
2. how far the out-of-service condition extends;
3. where hazardous materials are stored, handled or used, including fuel oil tanks;
4. where the portable fire extinguishers are;
5. how to make the required notifications.

The booklet's example orientation checklist makes this practical. A few items stand out: have a working cell phone (and get one before starting if you don't), carry an extinguisher yourself if none are provided in your area, know what the plan is for warning occupants if pull stations aren't working, and have names and numbers for the building contacts. Elsewhere it says the phone's battery should last the whole shift.

The booklet also asks the guard to weigh risk. More dangerous materials, larger quantities, more occupants, occupants who don't know the building (restaurant customers, young children) and more than one impaired system all mean the guard needs to know the building better.

On patrol: what the booklet says to check

The booklet is clear that fire guards make regular inspections of their assigned area and can't be given other responsibilities. On each round, the core questions are: is there any fire or smoke, are the exit routes clear, and are extinguishers and pull stations available? Its general inspection list covers:

Area	What the guard looks for
Exits, stairs, hallways	Clear and usable; exit doors open in the direction of travel; no locks, bolts or chains while the building is in use
Doors and fire doors	Working properly; access to the stairway available from every floor
Self-closing doors	Closed when not in use, never propped open, marked with a sign, in good working order
Signs and lighting	Exit signs and emergency lighting lit; directional signs show the way out
Ignition sources	For example arcing or exposed wiring, reported right away
Smoking	Prohibited; the guard enforces it
Trash	No buildup inside the building
Extinguishers and pull stations	Visible, in place, undamaged; the guard knows how to use them
Standpipe and sprinkler	No visible breaks, leaks or damage; FDNY connections and hydrants clear
Hot work	Not allowed where the sprinkler system is impaired; on construction sites, not allowed if the sprinkler or standpipe is impaired

On construction sites, the booklet warns that conditions change constantly: exit paths can move from day to day and hazardous materials can shift, so the guard has to notice changes that affect fire safety.

Reporting problems that aren't fires

When a round turns up a defect, such as a chained exit, a self-closing door that won't close, piled-up trash or exposed wiring, the booklet says the guard reports it to the building owner or responsible person immediately. That person then arranges the fix. The guard's job is to find and report; correcting the building is the owner's responsibility.

The daily record

The booklet says a record of fire safety activity must be kept, in writing or by approved electronic means, signed daily by the fire guard and available to the FDNY. It must show:

• the number of inspections completed;
• defects found;
• violations found;
• the date, and the name, Certificate of Fitness number and signature of the guard.

The booklet's example log has a column per hourly round. Each item is marked OK, X (unsatisfactory) or N/A, unsatisfactory items are described in the comments and raised with the responsible person, and the guard prints their name and signs at the end of the shift. On retention, the booklet says the record is kept on the premises for at least 3 years; the same paragraph also mentions keeping it for at least 48 hours after the fire watch ends.

If there is a fire

The booklet sets a clear order:

1. Call 911 immediately, with no delay. A street fire alarm box is another way to reach the FDNY. The booklet calls a phone call the most direct and effective method.
2. Sound the building's pull station, where one is available, to warn occupants.
3. Then notify on-site responsible people, such as the impairment coordinator, FLSD or construction site fire safety manager, and follow their instructions.

On the 911 call, the booklet says to be ready with the address and nature of the emergency, the nearest cross street, any injuries, your callback number and, for large sites, which entrance gives responders the fastest access or which are blocked. Don't hang up until the operator says so.

If occupants need to leave, the booklet says the fire floor and the floor above go first. The guard stays calm, speaks clearly, and directs people to the stairs, not the elevators. When the FDNY arrives, the guard meets them and tells them what is happening and where.

What the booklet says a fire guard must not do

• Take on other duties during the fire watch.
• Assume the FDNY has been called because an alarm or smoke detector is sounding. Manual pull stations may not signal the FDNY directly.
• Pull an alarm station for anything other than a fire emergency.
• Reset the fire alarm. The booklet says a reset happens at the fire alarm control panel, by an S-95 holder, after an FDNY representative advises.
• Allow smoking, propped-open self-closing doors or locked exits to go unaddressed.
• Use water or foam extinguishers on electrical fires, or water on combustible metal fires.
• Treat a portable extinguisher as the answer to a large or spreading fire. The booklet says extinguishers are for small fires, and that they do not work on lithium-ion battery fires.

Notifications that belong to someone else

Telling the FDNY that a system is out of service is part of the impairment process, but the booklet assigns the details of that call to the impairment coordinator, not the guard. Knowing when it is required still helps on the exam: see F-01 exam topics explained. Likewise, the booklet notes that an F-60 watchperson at a construction site does not count as the F-01 fire watch.

Practicing the duties

Exam questions on duties often hinge on order and limits: who you call first, how often you patrol, what goes in the log. You can check yourself with the free questions on the F-01 practice page, and the full bank with timed mocks is on pricing. For the application steps, see how to get an F-01 certificate.