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The Record Review
What would your voice alarm records show if someone who maintains these systems for a living read them against the code of practice?
Send the last service certificate and whatever else you can find. A director reads them against the seven areas BS 5839-8:2023 asks an incoming maintainer to inspect (Clause 41.1) and sends back one page: what the records prove, what they leave open, and the questions to put to whoever looks after the system now.
What you get back
One page, within five working days of the records arriving:
- What the records prove. Each of the seven areas: covered by a record, partly covered, or not covered by anything sent.
- What they leave open. Each gap, with the clause, and who would normally hold the missing record.
- What to ask. Up to five questions for your current maintainer, worded so they can be answered in writing.
The page is yours whatever happens next. Use it at a contract review, with your fire risk assessor, or with the firm you already have.
Who it is for
It is a fit if all three are true:
- You are responsible for a voice alarm or PAVA (Public Address Voice Alarm) system in London or the South East.
- The system is maintained, or was until recently.
- You can send at least the last inspection and servicing certificate.
It is not a site visit, a test of the system, or a compliance assessment. Records can show what was checked; only an inspection on site can show what the system does today.
Why it costs nothing
Reading records is quick for someone who writes them every week, and it is how ProAudium meets the people it later works for. Most reviews end with "this is in good order" or "ask your maintainer these three things". When a review does point at an inspection, that is quoted on its own, and what gets put right, and by whom, stays your decision (Clause 41.1, Note).
If you're wary of sending records to a firm that might want the contract, that's fair. Send them to a director, and nothing follows unless you ask for it: no call back, no mailing list.
How it works
- Send the records: attach them to the form, or email them to the address on the confirmation.
- A director reads them and may email one question if something is unclear.
- The page arrives within five working days.
Four reviews a month, so the five-day promise holds. If the month is full, you'll be told the date yours will start.
What the review is, and is not
It is a reading of the documents you send, against the clause numbers given, so you can check each point in your own copy of the standard. BS 5839-8 is a code of practice: it recommends, it does not require, and not every gap has to be put right. Nothing is said about the system itself, or about any person or firm, beyond what the records show.