• 74 questions

S95 Practice Test

Pick an answer to see the rule and the section of the S-95 booklet it comes from.

What is the time limit printed for the S-95 test?

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Exam mode: 35 questions, 53 minutes, 25 right to pass (70%).

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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with the New York City Fire Department. Bank checked October 5, 2026.

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All 74 questions

The exam and who supervises what 10

  • A building has a one-way voice (public announcement) system and needs no director or F-80 holder. Which certificate supervises it? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 1
  • A candidate sits the S-95 exam. How many questions come up? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), exam information
  • A fire and life safety director supervises the alarm system in the building where the director's certificate applies. Is a separate S-95 needed for those premises? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), notice of examination, special requirements
  • An F-53 holder wants an S-95 for a different premises. What is still required, though the exam is not? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), notice of examination, special requirements
  • Does the notice open the alternative issuance procedure to S-95 applicants? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), notice of examination
  • May an S-95 holder visually inspect smoke detectors? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 2
Show all 74 questions (68 more)

The exam and who supervises what, continued

  • What did the Fire Code adopted in July 2008 change about fire alarm systems? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 1
  • What is the time limit printed for the S-95 test? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), exam information
  • Which mark is the lowest pass on the S-95 test? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), exam information
  • Who may program, service, repair or replace the components of a low voltage fire alarm system? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 2

Signals and the central station 13

  • A fire alarm signal reaches the central station and is then restored automatically by the premises' system. Is it still sent on to the Fire Department? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 3.2
  • A flammable gas detector wired to the fire alarm control panel activates. What signal does the panel generate? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 6.7
  • After a fire alarm is reset, what usually has to be restarted separately? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 4.3
  • From receiving a trouble signal, how long should the central station's routine handling take before it starts investigating by telephone? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 3.2
  • In what order do central station operators process the signals they receive? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 3.2
  • Is the Fire Department dispatched to respond to a supervisory signal? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 3.2
  • On which floors does the selective method activate the audio and visual devices? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 8.4
  • What do trouble signals indicate? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 3.2
  • What does the general alarm method do when a fire is detected? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 8.4
  • What happens in the base building system when a sub-system such as a range hood system activates? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 3.3
  • When does the central station operator notify the premises about an alarm signal? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 3.2
  • Which condition is on the booklet's list of common trouble conditions? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 3.2
  • Which of these generates a supervisory signal? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 3.2

Detectors and pull stations 16

  • A camera is built to look like a smoke detector but does not detect smoke. What does the booklet say about such a device? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 6.5
  • A protective guard is fitted over a smoke detector. What must be true of the guard? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 6.1
  • A smoke detector reports to the control panel that it needs maintenance. Within what time must it be cleaned? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 6.1
  • How should initiating devices such as smoke detectors be installed with future upkeep in mind? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 6
  • May detectors placed in air ducts stand in for open area detectors? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 6.2
  • What can dirt, insects or drywall dust in a photoelectric detector's sensing chamber cause? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 6.1
  • What color must manual fire alarm boxes be under the Fire Code? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 10.3
  • What extra information does an addressable smoke detector give the control unit? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 6.2.1
  • What is the difference between a smoke damper and a fire damper? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 6.2.2
  • What is the longest air sample transport time allowed from the farthest sampling point of an air sampling detector? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 6.2
  • What must projected beam-type detectors be kept clear of at all times? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 6.1
  • Which detects most fires more rapidly, a smoke detector or a heat detector? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 6.1
  • Which heat detector is the more sensitive type? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 6.3
  • Which kind of smoke detector detects flaming fires better? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 6.1
  • Which kind of smoke detector is better at sensing smoky fires, such as a smoldering mattress? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 6.1
  • Within how many seconds of a smoke detector's activation must fire alarm output functions such as fan shutdown operate? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 6.2.1

Inspections, testing and repairs 14

  • An S-95 holder comes across a smoke detector that has been painted. What should the holder do? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 10.4
  • At a minimum, how often must an unmonitored fire command center be visually inspected? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 10.1
  • The central station transmitter malfunctions. What must the certificate holder do? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 9
  • For which conditions are electric fire pumps commonly supervised? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 8
  • How often does the department recommend that each manual pull station be visually inspected, where practical? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 10.3
  • How often must ordinary smoke detectors be cleaned? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 10.4
  • How often must smoke detectors be tested for smoke entry? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 10.4
  • How often must two-way communication systems be tested? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 9
  • Is an S-95 holder allowed to clean smoke detectors? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 10.4
  • When does the booklet highly recommend that the certificate holder visually inspect the fire alarm devices for abnormal conditions? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 10.1
  • Where must the central station's telephone number and the system's account number be located? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 10.5
  • Who is allowed to service and test fire alarm systems? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 10
  • Who must record a test or visual inspection in the log book? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 10
  • Work on a sprinkler system needs a person with two credentials. One is the S-12 or S-15 certificate. What is the other? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 7

The alarm log book 11

  • For how long are alarm log books retained? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 10.2
  • How many alarm log books are kept per calendar year? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 10.2
  • How must entries in the alarm log book be made? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 10.2
  • In a building that needs no fire and life safety director, who is responsible for the log book entries the Fire Rule requires? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 10.2
  • Into how many separate sections is the alarm log book divided? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 10.2
  • May the fire safety plan log book be bound together with the alarm log book? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 10.2
  • What does a notification entry in the alarm log book record? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 10.2
  • What kind of book must the alarm log book be? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 10.2
  • What must the cover of the alarm log book show? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 10.2
  • Where is the alarm log book maintained? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 10.2
  • Which of these belongs in an activated alarm entry? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 10.2

Off-line and out-of-service systems 10

  • A defect is not corrected by the end of a system inspection. Who must be told of the impairment at once? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 10.7
  • A manual fire alarm box is found defective. Besides notifying the supervisor, what does the certificate holder do? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 10.7
  • A required fire protection system has gone out of service. Unless the commissioner directs otherwise, what are the two options after notifying the department? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 10.7
  • Before a fire alarm system is activated for a test, inspection or drill, what is mandatory? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 10.6
  • For which test is it not necessary to take the system off-line? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 10.6
  • What is an out of service system? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 10.7
  • What is the only duty of fire guards used during an out-of-service condition? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 10.7
  • When an impairment period ends or is called off, who must be notified? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 10.7
  • Which of these must the notification of an outage to the department include? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 10.7
  • Whose duty is it to name the impairment coordinator? FDNY study material for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness (revised March 2024), section 10.7

How this list was compiled: Written from the study material the New York City Fire Department publishes for the S-95 Certificate of Fitness, Supervision of Fire Alarm Systems, revised March 2024 and read 2026-10-05 (https://www.nyc.gov/assets/fdny/downloads/pdf/business/cof-s95-noe-study-materials.pdf): the notice of examination and sections 1 to 10, on who supervises which system, the signals a control panel handles, detectors and other devices, inspections, the alarm log book and out-of-service conditions. Each question names the section it rests on. Licence: Own work. Questions, answer choices and explanations were written for this site from the facts in the booklet and restate them in new words; no sample question, log book example or passage is copied. The booklet itself is copyright the City of New York.

How it works

This page is an unofficial S-95 quiz of 74 questions on supervising a fire alarm system. Its source is the New York City Fire Department's study booklet, revised March 2024 and still the posted version on October 5, 2026; answers cite their sections.

Read the full guide

Six topics from the booklet

The Start from menu drills one part at a time: the exam and who supervises what, signals and the central station, detectors and pull stations, inspections, testing and repairs, the alarm log book, off-line and out-of-service systems.

Exam mode follows the notice

Exam mode is set from the S-95 notice, so a round has 35 questions, lasts 53 minutes and needs 70 percent. The questions stay this site's work and are not the department's.

  • The Fire Department is not dispatched to supervisory or trouble signals; the booklet says neither indicates a fire (section 3.2).
  • Alarm log books are bound, written in ink, one per calendar year, and kept three years from the last entry (section 10.2).
  • S-95 holders inspect by sight; service, testing and smoke detector cleaning belong to other certificates (sections 2 and 10).

Questions and answers

What score passes the S-95 exam?

Seventy percent or higher on a computer test of 35 multiple-choice questions, for which the notice allows 53 minutes. These come from the booklet dated March 2024; a newer notice, if one is posted, takes their place.

Are these the real S-95 exam questions?

No. This site has never seen the department's exam and is not affiliated with the New York City Fire Department. Every question is new writing based on the S-95 booklet, and its sample items do not appear. No certificate holder has reviewed them yet.

Which buildings need an S-95 holder?

By the booklet's table, a fire alarm system without voice communication, in a building that needs no fire and life safety director, F-80 holder or F-53 holder, must be supervised by an S-95 holder.

Do F-80 or F-89 holders need an S-95?

The notice says holders of the F-89, T-89, F-80 or F-53 are exempt from a separate S-95 for the same premises. For a different premises they may obtain one without the exam, with an employer letter and a $25 payment.

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