Passive fire penetration survey and register app
A penetration survey walks every fire-rated wall and floor and records each place a cable, pipe or duct passes through it: what the service is, what sealing system was used, and whether that system has a tested fire-resistance level for this situation. The output is a penetration register, often hundreds of rows, each with a photo and a compliance call. It is read by the certifier, the owner and the next trade who drills through the wall.
Built for passive fire firms running teams of roughly 3–50 inspectors.
Sample Penetration register
An illustrative excerpt. The site, readings and findings are fictional; the layout is yours to set.
Penetration register
Penetration register — Level 5 riser wall (FRL –/120/120)
- Site
- Fictional Apartments, 40 Imaginary Lane
- Element
- Riser shaft wall, Level 5
- Survey date
- 17 August 2026
| Ref | Service / sealing system | Compliance |
|---|---|---|
| L5-R-014 | 100 mm PVC stack, intumescent collar, labelled | Compliance: Compliant |
| L5-R-015 | Cable bundle, expanding foam only | Compliance: Non-compliant |
| L5-R-016 | 25 mm copper, mastic — no product identification | Compliance: Unverified |
| L5-R-017 | Unused opening 150 × 150 mm | Compliance: Non-compliant |
Fields captured on site
Your firm builds the form in-app, so these are a starting point rather than a fixed schema. Every field is captured on the device, with or without signal, and lands in the penetration register where your template puts it.
Per fire-rated element
- Element ID and location
- Required FRL
- Construction type (wall or slab, material)
Per penetration
- Penetration reference
- Service type and size
- Sealing system and product
- Identification label present
- Compliance call
- Photo with comment
Remediation
- Linked penetration
- Recommended system
- Priority
Standards the report works to
- AS 4072.1-2005Components for the protection of openings in fire-resistant separating elements — Service penetrations and control joints
- The requirements each penetration seal is surveyed against.
- AS 1530.4Methods for fire tests on building materials, components and structures — Fire-resistance tests
- The fire test by which a sealing system’s FRL is established.
Load the standards you hold into your reference library and the drafted prose is written against them rather than against a general model.
How the penetration register gets built
Capture it once, offline
Your firm builds the passive fire penetration survey form in-app — 25 field types, nesting repeatable groups, compound AND/OR visibility rules, reusable modules and calculated fields. Field capture works with no signal: jobs, forms, photos, notes and audio all queue in an idempotent outbox that only clears once the server confirms receipt.
Link it to your buildings, fire compartments and rated elements
Enter buildings, fire compartments and rated elements once, as a register. Every one of your penetrations, defects and rectification items then points at a stored row rather than a name somebody typed — and the links survive a disconnected device.
Render your own template
The penetration register renders into the Word template you already use — your letterhead, your section order, your clause library — with conditionals, loops over repeats, composable sub-templates and photo grids.
Reviewed before it leaves
You write the review framework: a checklist of what a penetration register must contain, plus the prose standards you would mark a junior against. Link it to a report template and it runs every time that template renders. Each finding comes back graded info, minor or major, quoting the sentence at fault, and a person accepts or dismisses every one.
Because the structured submission behind the report is held too, the review is a comparison rather than a proofread: The report says sprinkler coverage is throughout; the form records the warehouse only.
Checks a fire safety framework usually carries
- Every rated element assessed carries a defect status, not just a description
- A BAL determination shows the inputs it was derived from
- Non-conformances cite the clause of the standard they fail
- Rectification items are specific enough for a contractor to price
Questions
- How do we keep hundreds of penetrations organised?
- Elements are entered once and each penetration links to its element, so the register groups by wall or slab and inherits the required FRL rather than having it typed on every row.
- Can the register go to the remediation contractor as a spreadsheet?
- Submissions open in a spreadsheet-style grid that exports, and the Word report can carry the full register as a table with photos.
- Does the app decide whether a seal is compliant?
- No. The surveyor makes the call. The form records it consistently, and the drafted prose follows the call that was recorded.
What this is not
Worth knowing before you book a demo, so neither of us wastes the half hour.
- Not field-service dispatch. No timesheets, no parts, no inventory. Scheduling exists to get an inspector to a site.
- No signature capture. If your deliverable has to carry a signed sign-off on the artefact itself, this is not the tool yet.
- Field capture is what works offline — jobs, forms, photos, notes and audio. Reports, chat, scheduling and the inbox need a connection.
- No client portal. Reports go out as a file or a password-protected link.
Other fire safety work we cover
- Bushfire hazard reduction auditsHazard reduction report
- Evacuation diagram auditsDiagram compliance report
- Evacuation drill recordsDrill observation report
- Fire damper testingDamper test report
- Fire hydrant testingHydrant flow test report
- Fire safety statement auditsAFSS evidence pack
- Fire trail condition auditsTrail condition report
- Smoke detector testingDetector test register
Other disciplines
Rebuild your penetration register in SurveyThanks
Bring the Word template you already send clients. If you are coming off another field-forms tool, a filled report can be uploaded, read field by field, and re-rendered into your template.