Fire Safety Inspections

Your Annual Fire Safety Inspection, which is required by law, is also one of the lowest-cost resources available to protect your property and the health and lives of your employees and those who visit your business or occupy your premises. In part thanks to this inspection program, the City of Denver enjoys an extremely low fire loss rating for a city of its size, with the additional benefit of lower overall property insurance rates compared to other cities. 

Whether your business is a smaller property, such as a small retail store or low-rise apartment building (inspected by crews from your local fire station) or a high-rise building, institutional campus with highly technical life-safety systems, or hazardous material occupancy (inspected by personnel from the Fire Prevention Division), your annual inspection helps you ensure that your property is in compliance with Denver’s Fire Code and therefore national safety standards.

Once on site, Fire Department inspectors will check your building’s exits, emergency lighting, exit signs, components of fire-resistive separation, access roadways and fire lanes, and testing and maintenance records of fire-safety systems. They will also make sure there is an emergency evacuation plan in place.

If the inspectors find any conditions that violate city ordinance, they will notify you and, if the conditions cannot be corrected on the spot, will issue an order notice requesting that the condition be corrected as soon as possible. A re-inspection will be scheduled to confirm that the violation has been corrected. An additional fee is charged for each re-inspection. Certain occupancies, such as marijuana facilities, will receive semiannual inspections to ensure compliance with codes and standards. 

After any inspection, you will be invoiced within a week of the inspector finishing the inspection report. Fees are due and payable within 30 days. Fees for inspections are based on your property's square footage, number of floors and type of occupancy. For more information please see our table of fees. 

Emergency Pre-Plan Inspection

In addition to receiving an annual Fire Safety Inspection, many businesses and commercial occupancies in Denver receive an annual Emergency Pre-Plan Inspection, where crews from the local fire station visit the facility to conduct pre-emergency planning to ensure that their response is as efficient and effective as possible in the event of an emergency. This inspection is handled at a different time than your Fire Safety Inspection and this service is provided at no charge. (Although, if violations are noted during this inspection, your property may be referred for a Fire Safety Inspection, for which there is a fee.) This inspection is scheduled by your local firehouse. If you have questions about the Emergency Pre-Plan Inspection, please call the local firehouse or 720-913-3474. 

Questions?

If you have any questions about the Fire Safety Inspection Program, you can contact us at 720-913-3474 or denfpb@denvergov.org with any questions. We thank you for your efforts in helping us keep Denver a safe place in which to work, live and visit.

As part of the annual Fire Safety Inspections conducted in all multi-family residential occupancies (three units or more), the Fire Department checks many different components of fire safety, such as proper exiting, emergency access, and more. One purpose of this inspection is to ensure that all units have functioning smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, and fire extinguishers.

• As a property owner or manager of a multi-family residential occupancy (rented), you are required to conduct tests of all smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, and fire extinguishers in all rented units and keep those records for the Fire Department personnel to see during the annual inspection. See the links below for details.
• As a property owner, manager, or homeowners’ association president of a multi-family residential occupancy such as owner-occupied condominiums, you are required to ask the homeowners to conduct tests of these devices, and you must keep the test results for Fire Department personnel to see during the annual inspection. 

Documentation

Installation and new construction inspections by Fire Prevention personnel ensure compliance with adopted codes and standards and help eliminate problems before the building is occupied, before a new process or hazard is introduced, or before a new life safety system is placed in service. These inspections also benefit the fire service by helping them to become familiar with the building before it is occupied and with the life safety systems that have been installed. A successful Building Occupancy Inspection generally results in a Certificate of Occupancy.

Refer to the building permit for details about timing of and arranging for a building occupancy inspection, or contact:
Fire Prevention Occupancy Inspections Group
720-913-3409
shawn.lord@denvergov.org 

Besides conducting annual fire safety inspections in all day care homes and day care centers, the Fire Department has prepared a set of guidelines outlining safety features you should look for when evaluating potential day care centers for your child. '

Read our Fire Safety in Day Care Centers handout:

• Fire Safety Info for Parents/ Guardians
• Fire Safety Info for Daycare Facilities