Pre-work sweep, every shift
Before any hot work begins, guard performs the NFPA 51B–aligned pre-sweep: combustibles cleared to 35ft, openings covered, extinguishers staged, fire-blanket in position. Checklist signed and photographed.
Operational playbook
40-Storey Highrise — Hot-Work Fire Watch
A 40-storey residential tower under construction in downtown Toronto needed continuous NFPA 51B–compliant fire watch for a 14-day sprinkler-system-impaired welding and coring campaign across 11 active floors. The GC needed zero AHJ findings and a clean insurance file for the policy bind.
Request a proposalAt a glance
- Asset
- 40-storey residential tower under construction
- Province
- Ontario (PSISA)
- Contract type
- Fire watch (NFPA 51B-aligned)
- Hours
- 336 post-hrs (14 days × 24h)
- Deployed in
- 3 business days
The challenge
The fire-suppression system was being modified floor-by-floor, requiring continuous fire watch under NFPA 51B and Ontario Reg 213/91. Prior GC vendor had missed a post-work watch window in the previous month, triggering an insurance notification and a conditional policy clause. Zero tolerance for a repeat.
Our approach
Continuous watch during operation
One dedicated guard per active hot-work floor, line-of-sight to the work point, radio contact with site supervisor, written log every 30 minutes.
60-minute post-watch — no exceptions
After hot work ceases on a floor, the guard remains in position for 60 full minutes (exceeds the 30-min NFPA minimum) before handover. Log signed, photographed and delivered to the site super the same day.
AHJ-ready daily report
Single PDF per day covering all floors, pre-sweep checklists, watch logs, post-watch sign-offs and any anomalies. Emailed to GC, owner, insurer and Toronto Fire Services liaison by 06:00 next day.
Outcome (14-day campaign)
- 0AHJ findingsToronto Fire Services spot-inspected on day 6; clean
- 0Insurance observationsPolicy conditions satisfied; no premium adjustment
- 0Missed post-watch windowsAcross all 14 days and 11 active floors
- ~9 hrs/weekGC time saved on reportingOur single PDF replaced fragmented checklists
What we actually deployed
- PSISA-licensed guards with NFPA 51B site-specific briefing
- Portable fire extinguishers and fire blankets staged per floor
- Pre-sweep and post-watch checklists (NFPA 51B–aligned)
- Daily consolidated PDF report for GC / owner / insurer / AHJ
- Relief roster sized so no guard worked a fire-watch shift over 12 hours
FAQ
Why 60 minutes post-watch instead of 30?
NFPA 51B requires a minimum 30-minute post-watch; insurer guidelines increasingly ask for 60. We default to 60 because a smouldering fire from weld slag can take well over 30 minutes to reveal itself, and the incremental labour cost is low compared to a post-incident claim.
Are your fire-watch guards different from standard guards?
Same PSISA licence, additional NFPA 51B site-specific briefing, and deployed only to fire-watch posts for the duration. Shift supervisors verify briefing completion before first shift.
Can you issue a compliance certificate at end of the campaign?
Yes. A wrap-up PDF compiles every day's pre-sweep and post-watch records into a single signed file suitable for the insurer binder and the owner's project documentation.
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