Fire Life Safety

When a fire alarm goes offline or a sprinkler system gets shut down for maintenance, New Jersey law doesn’t give you a grace period. Under NJAC 5:70, the NJ Uniform Fire Code, buildings must have fire watch coverage in place whenever a required fire protection system is out of service for more than four hours in a 24-hour period. That’s not a suggestion. It’s a legal obligation, and inspectors enforce it.

Building Security Services has provided fire life safety services across New Jersey for over 40 years. Our fire watch guards, fire safety managers, and life safety technicians protect commercial buildings, residential high-rises, construction sites, hospitals, and industrial facilities throughout the state.

What Our Fire Life Safety Services Include

Fire life safety isn’t one service, it’s a system of overlapping protections. BSS handles every layer:

Fire Guards

A fire guard is an FDNY-certified professional who performs fire watch duties when a building’s fire protection systems (sprinklers, standpipes, or fire alarms) are out of service. They hold a specific Certificate of Fitness issued by the FDNY that authorizes them to conduct fire safety patrols, identify hazards, and act immediately if a fire is discovered.

Fire Watch Guards

Trained, licensed security officers deployed when your fire alarm or sprinkler system is impaired, under repair, or offline. Our fire watch guards conduct timed patrols, maintain detailed log sheets, verify egress routes, and contact 911 immediately if a fire condition is detected. We can deploy same-day for emergency situations.

Fire Safety Managers

For high-rise buildings, mixed-use properties, and facilities that require a designated fire safety manager under local ordinances, including Jersey City’s Ordinance #01-088, BSS provides certified Fire Safety Managers who manage evacuation procedures, fire drills, and code compliance year-round.

Fire Life Safety Systems

Our technicians install, test, and service fire alarm panels, addressable fire detection systems, smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, natural gas detectors, water-flow monitoring for sprinkler systems, manual pull stations, and voice evacuation systems. All monitoring runs through our 24-hour UL-certified central station.

Hot Work Fire Watch

Welding, cutting, brazing, or any open-flame work on your property requires a dedicated fire watch. Under NJ code, fire watch must remain on site for a minimum of one hour after hot work concludes on roofs and 30 minutes in other areas. BSS provides guards specifically trained in hot work fire watch protocols.

When New Jersey Law Requires Fire Watch

The NJ Uniform Fire Code (NJAC 5:70) is specific about when fire watch is mandatory. If any of these situations apply to your building, you need coverage, not tomorrow, but now:

• Sprinkler system out of service for more than 4 hours total in a 24-hour period (does not need to be consecutive)
• Fire alarm system offline for more than 4 hours total in a 24-hour period
• Hot work in progress — welding, cutting, brazing, or soldering anywhere on the property
• Active construction or demolition — contractors must have a Fire Warden on site during all working hours
• Places of public assembly — at the discretion of the local fire code official
• Any situation where the fire official deems it necessary — fire marshals can mandate fire watch during inspections

“Property managers sometimes think they can wait until Monday to arrange fire watch,” says Paschal Tusoe, BSS NJ Branch Manager. “The code doesn’t work that way. Four hours is four hours – whether it’s a holiday weekend or a Tuesday afternoon. We get calls at 2 a.m. and have guards on site the same night.”

NJ Life Hazard Use Buildings

New Jersey classifies certain buildings as “Life Hazard Uses” under NJAC 5:70-2.4. These properties must register with the NJ Division of Fire Safety, pass regular inspections (annual, bi-annual, or quarterly depending on classification), and maintain a valid Fire Safety Certificate at all times. If your building falls into one of these categories, fire life safety isn’t optional — it’s a condition of operation:

• Group A — Assembly: theaters, arenas, banquet halls, restaurants, nightclubs
• Group B — Business: office buildings above specific square footage thresholds
• Group F-1 — Factory/Industrial: manufacturing facilities (24,000–50,000+ sq ft)
• Group H — High-Hazard: facilities that store or handle flammable, toxic, or explosive materials
• Group I — Institutional: hospitals, nursing homes, detention facilities (50+ beds)
• Group R-2 — Residential: apartment complexes and condominiums
• High-rise buildings: additional requirements for standpipes, sprinkler supervision, and alarm monitoring

BSS works with property managers and building owners across all Life Hazard Use classifications. Whether you need fire watch during a sprinkler shutdown or ongoing fire safety management for a high-rise portfolio, we build a plan that keeps you compliant and keeps your tenants safe.

Why NJ Properties Choose BSS for Fire Life Safety

Fire-watch-only companies are transactional — they send a body and bill by the hour. BSS takes a different approach because fire life safety is part of a larger security picture, not an isolated service.

• 40+ years in New Jersey. We’ve protected NJ properties since 1984. Our headquarters is in South Orange, and our NJ branch team knows the local fire code officials, inspection cycles, and building stock.
• Same-day deployment. Emergency fire watch requests don’t wait for business hours. We maintain a roster of trained fire watch guards ready to deploy across northern and central New Jersey.
• Full-service security partner. Fire watch is one piece. We also provide unarmed security guards, construction site security, video surveillance, access control, and central station monitoring — so you’re not juggling five vendors for one building.
• Detailed documentation. Every fire watch shift produces timestamped patrol logs, incident reports, and compliance records — exactly what fire inspectors ask for.
• Women-led, BOMA member. BSS is a women-led company and an active member of BOMA (Building Owners and Managers Association), which means we understand the property management side of fire life safety — not just the guard side.

NJ Service Areas

BSS provides fire life safety services throughout New Jersey, with the strongest coverage in northern and central NJ. Our teams are active in:

Need fire life safety services in New York City? See our NYC fire watch security and NYC fire life safety directors pages.