Not every company that is qualified to test smoke alarms can certify the fire systems in a building. That's where a lot of Hamilton building managers get caught out. Let's start with the paperwork. Ask who will perform the testing, and whether they are an Independent Qualified Person for those types of systems in your building. The Building Act 2004 says that specified systems including alarms, sprinklers, emergency lighting and fire doors must be tested on a regular basis, and the results feed into your annual Building Warrant of Fitness. If a business can't quite explain how that works, keep looking spectrum fire.
Some businesses will only supply extinguishers. Others cover everything: detection, sprinklers, evacuation plans and passive fire protection like fire stopping. A single package means one set of paperwork, one invoice and one point of responsibility when something goes wrong.
Fire panels go wrong at the worst possible times. Picture this: it is Friday afternoon, a panel develops a fault, and your tenants are back on Monday? A Hamilton-based technician can usually get to site same or next day. A technician from an Auckland-based company likely can't.
Ask for a sample report. A proper report breaks down each device tested, indicates what was defective and how it was rectified. A page full of ticks with a signature at the bottom says very little and won't help you when Fire and Emergency New Zealand or the council ever asks questions.
Pricing is next. A suspiciously cheap quote can leave out call-outs, travel or remedial work. Ensure the scope is documented, compare it line by line and ask how additional work flagged by the engineer during a routine visit gets charged.