In fire safety systems, maintenance is not a request but an obligation under legislation: BYKHY Article 84 and Article 100, periodic inspection, testing and maintenance are the responsibility of the building owner and administrator; the extinguishing side explicitly mandates this. This page explains from an administrator's perspective what the regulations require, how records should be kept, and what written delegation of responsibility does and does not change.
Regulation on Fire Protection of Buildings (BYKHY), makes the maintenance of fire safety systems an obligation with two articles: detection and emergency lighting; Article 84, for extinguishing; Article 100. This page converts the legal language of the articles into the facility manager's practical questions: who is responsible, who determines frequency, what is required in inspection, what does written transfer change.
Two Articles, One Principle: Maintenance is Required, Responsibility is Clear
Article 84 emergency lighting, signage, and fire detection and alarm systems; Article 100 fire extinguishing systems. In both, the formula is the same: systems, building owner and property manager. — or where responsibility has been transferred in writing to the building official — are subject to periodic inspection, testing, and maintenance as required by the applicable standard. Article 100 binds this with the phrase "is required."
Practical meaning: the regulation's subject is neither the equipment nor the maintenance company, but the person who manages the building; if a panel is left out of service, the first question at inspection is asked to the manager, not the maintenance contractor.
| Article | Systems Covered | Who is Responsible? | Document Required at Inspection |
|---|---|---|---|
| Article 84 | Fire detection and alarm, emergency lighting, signage | Building owner and manager; building official if written transfer exists | Inspection forms, test reports, fault and out-of-service records |
| Article 100 | Sprinkler, pump group, hydrant, fire cabinet, gas and foam extinguishing | Same: building owner and manager / building official | Maintenance reports, pump test schedules, cylinder weighing and test certificates |
| Guiding Provision | Records pertaining to all of the above | Building owner, management, or responsible party | Facility file kept in a secure location, available in an emergency |
What Does "Periodic" Mean? The Regulation Does Not Specify
The critical point: BYKHY does not itself prescribe maintenance frequency, but defers to the period specified in the applicable standard, as required by the system. A specification built on "the regulation requires annual maintenance" has gotten its basis wrong from the start. The correct approach is to write each system's standard by name in the contract:
- ⟦0⟧, for inspection-test ⟦1⟧ TS CEN/TS 54-14 — tiered sequence from daily visual inspection to annual device testing
- Sprinkler and fire pump group: TS EN 12845; complementary language NFPA 25 in contracts
- Gas extinguishing (FM-200, Novec 1230, inert): TS ISO 14520 + manufacturer maintenance manual
- Hood extinguishing: NFPA 17A / NFPA 96 line
- Portable extinguishers: Service schedule under TS 11827
Which control is performed on which system at which interval fire system periodic inspection we have detailed system by system on this page.
Record Retention: Performing is Not Enough, You Must Prove It
The regulation's implementation guide requires that information and documents related to inspection, testing, and maintenance be kept by the building owner, management, or responsible party in a secure location so they can be presented to the relevant authorities in an emergency. The field requirement is clear: maintenance that cannot be shown in records is maintenance that was not performed in the eyes of the inspection desk.
A proper facility file contains at least the following: current maintenance contract, dated and signed maintenance reports, test records with measurements (battery load test, pump performance values, cylinder weighing results), fault records, and out-of-service and restoration minutes. For document formats periodic inspection forms page.
What Is Required at Inspection?
Maintenance records are not the subject of a single inspection type; the same file is opened at more than one desk:
- Fire department compliance procedures: documentation that systems are operational and maintained at license and approval stages
- Occupational health and safety inspections: equipment component of the emergency plan
- Insurance surveyor: maintenance and test records are often the first documents requested after a loss
- Certification and customer audits: ISO-based and corporate tenant audits
Common point: the inspector does not look at the device brand, but at dated, regular, and measurement-containing records. [57] Written Transfer of Responsibility: What It Transfers, What It Does Not?
Sorumluluğun Yazılı Devri: Neyi Devreder, Neyi Devretmez?
Both articles allow transfer but specify the form: the transfer must be in writing and must be to the building official.
In practice it takes three forms: transfer to a site or facility management company, transfer to a tenant operating the building alone within a lease agreement, transfer to a technical manager with a job description. In all three, the decisive element is the signed document; verbal assignment does not constitute transfer. The most frequently misunderstood point is this: a maintenance contract is not a transfer of responsibility. The maintenance company undertakes performance of the work — it conducts the test, writes the report, responds to faults; the responsibility before the regulation remains with the building owner and manager unless written transfer is made. The contract is still critical: what makes responsibility manageable
is the regular records it produces. A practical convenience is also consolidating systems under one hand: we put all fire systems under one contract from detection to gas extinguishing, if desired at the facility we add camera maintenance (ZQX0ZQX) to the same contract — a single report format emerges for presentation at inspection.
Manager's Checklist
- If you can answer "yes" to all of the following, you are in a strong position regarding Articles 84 and 100:
- There is a current inventory list of fire safety systems in the building
- Each system's applicable standard is written by name in the maintenance contract
- The last maintenance report is dated, signed, and contains measurements — not just a single line saying "completed"
- Out-of-service sections and devices were listed and unnecessary ones were restored
- Records are in a single facility file; if the manager changes, the file stays in place
- If responsibility was transferred, it is in writing; the transferee knows the scope
There is no orphaned interface between mechanical and electronic maintenance Survey is free within AnkaraWe close missing items together with an as-is assessment. Our headquarters is in Ankara Yenimahalle; You can call or our contact pageA zone monitoring module connects an entire conventional detector line to the addressable loop. Critical areas are renewed with addressable devices while secondary zones continue to operate with their existing wiring. This provides significant cost advantage in capacity upgrade and renovation projects.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which articles in BYKHY make maintenance mandatory?
Two articles: Article 84 requires emergency lighting, signage and fire detection and alarm systems; Article 100 requires fire suppression systems to be subject to periodic inspection, testing and maintenance. In both cases, responsibility rests with the building owner and manager or with a building official to whom responsibility has been written transferred; Article 100 links this obligation with the phrase "is required". Responsibility lies with the building owner and manager or a building official to whom responsibility is formally transferred; Article 100 binds this obligation with the phrase "is required".
Does the regulation specify how many times per year maintenance should be performed?
No. Both articles defer the period to the frequency required by the system as specified in the relevant standard. In detection, TS CEN/TS 54-14 defines a graduated schedule from daily to annual; in sprinkler and pump TS EN 12845, in gas suppression TS ISO 14520 and the manufacturer's manual is authoritative. In the specification, the system's standard should be cited by name rather than "once per year per regulation".
We have contracted maintenance; is responsibility now with the maintenance company?
No. A maintenance contract governs performance of the work: the company conducts tests, the company writes the report. The only transfer method recognized by the regulation is written transfer of responsibility to a building official; unless this is done, the obligation remains with the building owner and manager. A well-drafted contract does not eliminate this responsibility but makes it manageable: regular reports and measurement records produce evidence the manager can demonstrate at inspection.
Which documents are requested from us at inspection?
Current maintenance contract, dated and signed maintenance reports, test records containing measurements (battery load test, pump performance values, cylinder weight check results), malfunction and intervention records and deactivation minutes. Fire service procedures, occupational health and safety inspection, insurance surveyor and certification inspector review the same file; the common expectation is regularly dated records containing measurements.
We use the building as a tenant; who bears the obligation?
The regulation establishes responsibility through the building owner and manager; transfer to a single-occupant operator is effective only if written. In practice, this means inserting a clear clause in the lease agreement or a separate protocol. If it is not in writing who is responsible for what, both parties end up at inspection saying "it was the other's job"; this is the highest-risk scenario. We recommend having ambiguous texts reviewed by a lawyer.
How long should we retain maintenance records?
The guide requires documents to be kept in a secure location for presentation in emergencies; it does not specify a separate retention period. In practice, the correct approach is to accumulate records in the facility file for the life of the system: older reports serve both to track equipment aging and to provide retrospective evidence in post-damage insurance discussions. At manager changeover, file transfer should be documented in a minutes record.