A small test for tomorrow morning: ask your building staff who would meet the fire department if the alarm went off. Ask who has the keys to the service rooms, and who can explain which part of the building is in alarm. These are basic questions, yet if the answers aren’t immediate, the building may have an approved fire safety plan without having a plan anyone actually understands.

In many apartment buildings, the fire safety plan is treated as a finished product—prepared, reviewed, approved, and filed. Once it’s in the right binder, everyone moves on. But does anyone truly know what the plan says? In my work with apartment buildings, the issue is rarely a lack of concern. Property managers, supers, and building staff care deeply about safety. The problem is that the information in the plan doesn’t always make its way into day‑to‑day operations.

A fire safety plan isn’t meant to be a binder that only comes out during inspections. It should tell staff exactly what’s expected of them during an emergency, where critical fire and life‑safety equipment is located, and who needs to be contacted when something goes wrong.

And that applies to more than fires. A sprinkler pipe may leak. A fire alarm system may be shut down for repairs. An elevator may fail. A contractor may flag a deficiency during an annual inspection. In each case, someone needs to know what happens next.

A property manager may know the building has a fire alarm system but not what occurs when it activates. A superintendent may know where the plan is stored but not who meets responding firefighters. Staff may know to call 911 but not where the sprinkler valves are, whether an occupant needs assistance, or where inspection records are kept. That doesn’t make anyone careless—it simply means the plan hasn’t been translated into usable knowledge.

Staff don’t need to become fire protection technicians. They do need enough understanding to spot a problem, make the right calls, and give clear information when help arrives. A review can start with a few straightforward questions:

• Fire department liaison — Who meets firefighters, and how will they access locked service rooms?
• Alarm panel awareness — Do staff know where the fire alarm panel is and how to identify the area in alarm?
• System accessibility — Are sprinkler valves, standpipe connections, the fire department connection, and main service rooms accessible?
• Assistance lists — Is current information available for occupants who may need help during an emergency?
• Fire watch procedures — If a fire protection system is out of service, do staff know whether a fire watch is required and who must be notified?
• Recordkeeping — Where are monthly checks, annual inspection reports, fire drill records, and repair documents kept?

The answers can be revealing. One person may know where the fire alarm panel is, while someone else has the keys. The emergency contact list may include an employee who left years ago. An inspection report may be filed away, but nobody knows whether the deficiencies were repaired.

The simplest way to find these gaps is to walk the building with the plan open. Show staff the fire alarm panel, sprinkler room, fire department connection, emergency contacts, and inspection records. Review what should happen when the alarm sounds and who is responsible for each step.

It’s also important to discuss what staff should not do. Silencing or resetting an alarm without authorization can erase critical information or create confusion. Assuming an alarm is false because there’s no visible smoke can delay the response to a real emergency.

This doesn’t require a full‑day training session. A short review with new staff, a quick refresher after an alarm, or a few minutes spent discussing an inspection report can make the plan far more useful.

The plan also needs to match the building as it exists today. Staff and tenants change. Contact numbers change. Systems are upgraded, rooms renovated, and contractors identify new deficiencies. A plan that was accurate when approved can gradually become outdated.

Approval confirms that required procedures have been documented. But approval alone doesn’t prepare the people who operate the building. When staff understand the fire safety plan, they’re more confident in their responsibilities. Managers and contractors communicate more clearly. Firefighters receive better information when time matters. And residents are better protected.

The next time you look at your fire safety plan, don’t just check that it’s approved and in the right place. Ask the people responsible for the building what it says. Their answers will tell you whether you have a working fire safety plan—or simply an approved binder.

Matt Merkley is a professional firefighter with over 20 years of experience in fire safety consulting and fire safety plan development. He is the founder of Fire Safety Handbook, an educational resource helping apartment‑building owners, property managers, building managers, and onsite staff better understand the fire and life‑safety systems in the buildings they operate. Learn more at firesafetyhandbook.com.