S95 Study Guide 2026
Everything you need to pass the S95 exam in one place: the exam format, every topic to study, real practice questions with explanations, flashcards, and full-length practice tests. Free, no sign-up needed.
S95 exam key facts
- The FDNY S-95 Supervision of Fire Alarm Systems exam has 35 multiple-choice questions, each with four answer choices. Source
- Candidates have 53 minutes to complete the FDNY S-95 Certificate of Fitness exam. Source
- The FDNY S-95 exam requires a score of at least 70% to earn the Certificate of Fitness, and unanswered questions are scored as incorrect. Source
- The FDNY S-95 Certificate of Fitness (Supervision of Fire Alarm Systems) has a $25 new application fee, paid online or in person by card, check or money order, with no cash accepted. Source
- Candidates who fail the FDNY S-95 exam get a failure report and must submit a new application and payment to retake it, and anyone caught cheating can be barred from all Certificate of Fitness exams for up to six months. Source
- An FDNY S-95 Certificate of Fitness is valid only for the person it is issued to and at one specific location, and it runs on a 3-year renewal cycle. Source
📋 S95 Exam Format at a Glance
📚 S95 Topics to Study (37)
✍️ Sample S95 Questions & Answers
1. Which of the following is the CORRECT action when a fire alarm system is taken out of service for maintenance exceeding four hours?
NFPA 72 and most fire codes require a fire watch when a fire alarm system is impaired, along with notification to the AHJ and supervising station.
2. What causes a 'ground fault' trouble signal on a fire alarm Notification Appliance Circuit (NAC)?
A ground fault occurs when a NAC conductor makes unintended contact with a grounded object such as conduit or structural steel, creating an abnormal current path the panel detects.
3. An S-95 certificate holder discovers a malfunctioning smoke detector in a corridor. What is the FIRST action to take?
Upon discovering a malfunction, the S-95 holder must immediately log the trouble condition and notify the building owner and the fire alarm service company.
4. In a commercial building, what is the primary function of a duct smoke detector?
Duct smoke detectors are installed in HVAC ductwork to detect the presence of smoke. Their main purpose is to prevent the circulation of smoke from a fire in one area of a building to other areas through the ventilation system. Upon detecting smoke, they send a signal to the fire alarm control panel, which then typically shuts down the HVAC fans and closes dampers.
5. Under NFPA 72, the maximum acceptable end-to-end response time for a supervising station to retransmit an alarm signal to the fire department is:
NFPA 72 requires that supervising stations retransmit a received alarm signal to the fire department within 60 seconds of receipt.
6. Which tool is required to perform an operational test of a waterflow alarm switch on a wet-pipe sprinkler system without discharging water?
The inspector's test valve simulates a single sprinkler head flow, activating the waterflow switch without full system discharge.
🎯 Free S95 Practice Tests
📖 S95 Guides & Articles
What Practice Test Geeks adds beyond an AI chat for S95
An AI chatbot can quiz you, but it can't reproduce the exam conditions or keep your record. Here you get:
- A timed, full-length S95 mock exam — 35 questions in 53 minutes with a 70% pass mark, modeled on the official exam's question count and time limit, followed by a score report broken down by exam domain.
- A fixed S95 question bank: the same test every attempt, so your score is comparable from one try to the next instead of changing with every regenerated quiz.
- Progress saved on your device: completed tests, scores and missed questions stay in My Progress, so you can retake only what you got wrong.
- A printable S95 cheat sheet you can print or save as a PDF.
- S95 flashcards built from the same question bank.
- Free S95 practice tests with the correct answer shown after each question.
How this page was made: written with AI tools and published by Nathan Beja, founder of Practice Test Geeks, who is responsible for its content. Exam facts are checked against the official sources listed below. Not reviewed by a subject-matter expert. Editorial policy
Sources & references
Exam facts on this page (fees, format, dates, passing scores) are checked against these official sources; the date is our last check. Editorial policy
- nyc.gov — Fees, renewal, score validity, eligibility, retake policy, score release, test dates, test delivery, exam format, passing score · verified Oct 2026