F04 Pre-Event Safety Inspections 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: During a pre-event inspection, you find an exit door chained shut with a padlock. What is the FIRST action you must take?
- Note it in your log and recheck at the end of the event
- Immediately notify management and require the chain be removed before guests enter (Correct answer)
- Place an 'Exit Blocked' sign near the door to redirect guests
- Relocate guests away from that exit during the event
Correct answer: Immediately notify management and require the chain be removed before guests enter
A locked exit is an immediate life-safety hazard that must be corrected before any occupants are admitted to the space.
Question 2: During a pre-event walk-through, you find extra chairs placed in a required aisle. What action must the fireguard take?
- Allow the chairs only if venue occupancy will be under 50%
- Remove the chairs and restore the required aisle width before the event opens (Correct answer)
- Mark the narrowed aisle with tape and monitor it during the event
- Permit extra seating if the event is expected to be short in duration
Correct answer: Remove the chairs and restore the required aisle width before the event opens
Aisles must maintain their required minimum widths at all times to serve as safe evacuation pathways.
Question 3: What must a fireguard verify about exit signs during a pre-event inspection?
- Exit signs are decorative and do not require electrical power
- Exit signs must be illuminated by both primary power and emergency backup power (Correct answer)
- Exit signs only need to be lit during the event itself, not during setup
- One illuminated exit sign per floor is sufficient for any assembly space
Correct answer: Exit signs must be illuminated by both primary power and emergency backup power
Exit signs must remain illuminated by both primary and emergency power to ensure visibility if the main power fails.
Question 4: Stage equipment has been moved during setup and now partially blocks an exit corridor. Who has authority to require it be moved before the event?
- Only the building owner or manager
- Only an FDNY inspector who happens to be on site
- The fireguard on duty (Correct answer)
- Only the event promoter or production manager
Correct answer: The fireguard on duty
The fireguard has authority and responsibility to require removal of any obstruction from exit pathways before or during an event.
Question 5: How many means of egress are generally required from a place of assembly, and how must they be positioned?
- Only one, provided it is a wide double door
- At least two, located as remote from each other as possible (Correct answer)
- Three, positioned equally around the perimeter of the room
- Four, one centered on each wall of the assembly space
Correct answer: At least two, located as remote from each other as possible
Fire code requires at least two exits positioned remotely from each other so a single fire cannot block all escape routes simultaneously.
Question 6: During a pre-event inspection, you find that one required exit door swings inward into the assembly space instead of outward. What should you do?
- Allow the event only if attendance is expected to be under 100 people
- Tape an arrow on the door to warn guests about the inward swing direction
- Report the code violation to management and the FDNY as required by code (Correct answer)
- Prop the door open permanently so the swing direction becomes irrelevant
Correct answer: Report the code violation to management and the FDNY as required by code
Exit doors from places of assembly must swing in the direction of egress travel; an inward-swinging door is a fire code violation requiring reporting.
Question 7: During a pre-event inspection, egress corridor lighting appears inadequate. What is the minimum illumination level required at floor level along a means of egress?
- 0.5 foot-candles
- 1 foot-candle (Correct answer)
- 5 foot-candles
- 10 foot-candles
Correct answer: 1 foot-candle
Fire and building codes require a minimum of 1 foot-candle of illumination at floor level along the path of egress.
F04 Pre-Event Safety Inspections 2
During a pre-event inspection, you find an exit door chained shut with a padlock.
What is the FIRST action you must take?