NFPA 72 · 2025 edition · for inspection and testing
NFPA 72 2025 changes
What the 2025 edition changes for the people who inspect, test and keep the records — traced through NFPA’s own revision documents to the final text — and the «changes» that are not new at all.
Effective
Sep 18, 2024
States on 2025
CA · DE
Biggest for records
8-hour owner notice
Look up the edition your state uses — most are on 2019 or 2022.
Impairments and records
The owner is told of an impairment within 8 hours
The 2022 edition said only that the owner or representative shall be notified. 2025 adds «within 8 hours». It does not add «in writing». The section is split, so the later clauses move down one: the 1-year impairment record becomes 10.21.3 and the report to the authority for more than 8 hours out of service becomes 10.21.5.
10.21.1 · SR-5078 · FR-5140
The system owner keeps the inspection, testing and maintenance records
Same period as before — until the next test and for one year after it — but the owner is now named as responsible. «Paper or electronic media shall be permitted» becomes its own clause, so the old 14.6.2.4 is now 14.6.2.5.
14.6.2.1 · 14.6.2.4–.5 · FR-5355 · FR-5356
Record documents live in a dedicated cabinet
All record documentation is stored in a dedicated documentation cabinet, and never in any control unit enclosure.
7.7.2.3–.4 · SR-5074 · SCR-18
Inspectors are not responsible for re-checking the design
People doing periodic inspection, testing and maintenance do not have to verify the design of a system that was already approved.
14.1.6 · SR-5044
Batteries and power
Dry-cell batteries: shelf life and an installed date
At the semiannual inspection, check that at least 60 percent of the shelf life is left from the printed use-by date, write the installed date on the battery, and replace it within 12 months of that date.
Table 14.3.1 item 9(2) · FR-5291
VRLA battery tests: rules moved into the table
The charger adjustment (2.265 V ±0.015 V per cell at 77 °F) moves from a footnote into the charger row, and the ohmic row says a load test done as in item 9(5) is an acceptable alternative. Pass and fail numbers did not change.
Table 14.4.3.2 items 9(2), 9(4), 9(5) · SR-5052
A listed charger can stand in for battery testing
A control unit charger or power supply listed for verifying secondary power demand may be approved as equivalent to the battery tests.
Table 14.4.3.2 footnote c · FR-5349
Rechargeable secondary batteries must be listed
Listed or component-recognized by a nationally recognized testing laboratory; the 2022 «effective January 1, 2024» wording is gone.
10.6.10.1.3 · FR-5095
Test methods
Nonrestorable heat detectors: no heat tests
«Do not perform heat tests. If verifying electrical continuity or supervision, test mechanically or electrically» per the manufacturer. The 15-year replacement or lab-sample rule is unchanged.
Table 14.4.3.2 item 17(4)(c) · FR-5349
Magnets do not count as a smoke entry test
Now in the method column of the smoke detector functional test. It was already in a 2022 footnote, so it is clearer rather than new.
Table 14.4.3.2 item 17(7)(a) · FR-5349
Restricted audible mode gets an annual record
Where restricted audible mode is used, the annual test records ambient and maximum sound levels, compares them with the design documents, and reviews whether the occupancy changed.
14.4.13 · SR-5047
Abort switches and air-pressure switches spelled out
Abort switch tests are written as steps; the high/low air pressure switch can follow the dry-pipe or preaction valve maker’s instructions.
Table 14.4.3.2 items 18, 17(10)(b) · FR-5349 · SR-5051
Networks, pathways and people
Annual cybersecurity checks by the person testing
Where Chapter 11 applies (network-connectable equipment): verify every year that cybersecurity certificates are valid and that the manufacturer’s contact details for the owner are current. Required security updates are installed at least annually.
11.11.2–.3 · 11.8.5 · FR-5188 · SR-5089
Changing the communications pathway is a reacceptance event
Moving a premises from a phone line to cellular, for example: notify the authority having jurisdiction, do a reacceptance test, document it, verify secondary power, and label the pathways at each connection point.
26.6.2.6 · SR-5151 · SCR-25
Manufacturer certification is equipment-specific
Qualification by manufacturer certification now means certification for the specific equipment used in the system.
10.5.1.3 · 10.5.2.3 · FR-5057 · FR-5072
Often called new — but not
NOT NEWWritten notice of uncorrected deficiencies within 24 hours
Already in the 2022 edition (14.2.2.3.2) and in 2019 (14.2.2.2.3). No revision in 2025.
NOT NEWControl valve (tamper) switch tests going semiannual
They were already semiannual. 2025 changed «Semiannual» to «Semiannually».
NOT NEWNew smoke detector sensitivity rules
No change to the schedule or the methods (14.4.4.3, item 17(8)).
NOT NEWNew record forms
The committee reports show no revisions to the Chapter 7 forms.
NOT NEWLonger record retention
Still until the next test and one year after; only who is responsible changed.
Questions
When was the 2025 edition of NFPA 72 issued?
NFPA’s amendments issued with the edition carry an issue date of August 29, 2024 and an effective date of September 18, 2024. The edition only applies where a state or local code adopts it, on its own schedule.
Which states use NFPA 72 2025?
In our state-by-state check, California and Delaware adopted the 2025 edition, effective 2026-01-01. Most states are still on 2019 or 2022.
Is the owner notice for an impairment now required in writing?
No. The 2025 edition adds a time limit — within 8 hours — but not a format. The written notice within 24 hours applies to deficiencies not corrected by the end of a visit, and that rule is unchanged.
Do I need new forms for 2025?
The committee reports show no revisions to the Chapter 7 record forms for 2025, and NFPA 72 still accepts your own form if it carries all the applicable information. Strobeline’s forms cover the 2019 and 2022 editions today.
How this was checked
Each change was followed through NFPA’s revision documents for the 2025 edition — First Revisions, Second Revisions, Second Correlating Revisions, the motions voted at the 2024 technical meeting, and the amendments and errata issued since — and is listed only where we read the final text. Proposals that were reversed before the edition was issued are left out. Clause numbers are those printed in the revision documents and can differ by a digit in the printed edition. Read on October 6, 2026; summarized in our words. Items for special systems (central stations, two-way radio, thermal image detectors) are not listed.
Tools for the current editions
The impairment notice records when the owner was told; the frequency planner and battery calculator cover 2019 and 2022.