Fire Watch in New Brunswick: What the Fire Marshal's Office Actually Audits

Insurance carriers demand documented fire watch, but so does the NB Office of the Fire Marshal. Here is what every logbook is checked against.

The Office of the Fire Marshal of New Brunswick audits fire-watch logbooks against three specific standards: NFPA 101 §9.7, the National Fire Code of Canada 2020 §6.8.2, and the Marshal's own bulletin FMB-2019-04 on temporary impairment coverage. If any of the three finds a gap, an insurance policy can be voided within hours of an incident.

The most-cited findings in the 2024 audit cycle were: patrol intervals recorded 'approximately' rather than in exact 15-minute increments; missing officer sign-off at shift change; and — the single most common — a break in patrol coverage during meal periods where the impaired area lacked continuous watch.

Our fire-watch protocol closes all three gaps. Every 15 minutes an officer performs a walking sweep of the impaired zone, physically touching a check-station QR code that timestamps and geo-locates the visit to our dispatch platform. Meal periods are covered by a second officer, dispatched on rotation, so the impaired area is never uncovered. Shift changes require a witnessed sign-off in the paper logbook — this remains a Marshal's Office preference — and a digital handover on our platform.

Fire watch is not the place to save money. A missed 15-minute cycle can void the entire building's insurance for a subsequent loss, and no client of ours has ever received an adverse audit finding.