Fire Uniform Repair uses a Care and Repair Facility that is certified, and fully compliant with NFPA regulations to inspect fire uniform as follows:
- Routine Inspection
- Advanced Inspection
- Complete Liner Inspection
Routine inspection
The firefighter must carry out a routine inspection on his fire uniform as often as possible. This should take place even if the gear has not been in use, and the firefighter should look for:
- Soiling
- Contamination
- Physical damage to the garment including missing stitches and trim
- Seam integrity must be checked
- All components of the garment should be correctly assembled
Advanced Inspection
Advanced inspection of fire uniforms should take place every 6 months, and needs to be conducted by a third party. This is where Fire Uniform Repair steps in and certified staff members take care of this inspection. The Advanced inspection may also be carried out by trained personnel in the fire department. The advanced inspection of protective fire uniform includes all of the following:
- Soled fire uniform must be cleaned before the advanced inspection takes place.
- Findings of the inspection to be documented and tracked.
- Elements of the routine inspection to be adhered to.
- All required NFPA tests conducted on garment elements:
- Light evaluation of liners to take place.
- Evaluate for leakage
- Assess both physical and thermal damage
- Inspect for missing hardware
- Test moisture barrier integrity
- Inspect seam, material and label integrity
- Check reflectivity
- Check closure system
Complete Liner Inspection
For fire uniform that has been in use for three or longer years and complete liner inspection must take place every twelve months. This is in ordinance with National Fire Protection Agency regulations. The line inspection also needs to be carried out by a certified third party such as Fire Uniform Repair. It is required that the fire uniform garment be taken apart, the liners inspected and then sewed back together again.
Complete liner inspection includes separation of the liner to expose the inner hidden sides of the moisture barrier and thermal liner. A moisture barrier test needs to be carried out, as well as an evaluation of the water penetration barrier. Liners passing the inspection have to be sewn back together using Kevlar or Nomex fire resistant materials.
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