Fire Extinguisher Servicing

Fire extinguishers require stringent maintenance to ensure they will work when needed, or are more importantly safe. As fire extinguishers are pressurised vessels that can explode when corroded or damaged and have been known to cause serious injury and even death.

There are two types of maintenance procedures:

·       Maintenance by a competent person. (usually annually)

·       Basic inspection by the user.(weekly)

1. Maintenance to British Standard 5306 Pt3 should be carried out by a competent person at 12 monthly intervals.

The table below shows the basic types and frequency of maintenance:

1^ST Quote Fire Ltd. provides high quality fire extinguishers and annual maintenance at competitive prices. We recommend that an annual servicing agreement is set up to comply with the above standard.

2. British Standard 5306-3:2003 covers the maintenance of portable fire extinguishers and recommends that “regular visual inspections of all portable fire extinguishers be carried out by the user or user’s representative. The frequency of inspections by the user should be not less than monthly and when circumstances require, inspections should be carried out more frequently.”

Inspections should include checks that each extinguisher:

·       Is located in the designated place.

·       Is unobstructed, visible and its operating instructions face outwards.

·       Has operating instructions which are clean and legible.

·       Is not obviously damaged.

·       Has a reading in the operable range or position of any pressure gauge or indicator fitted.

·       Has seals and tamper indicators which are not broken or missing.

The Home Office booklet ‘Fire Safety: An Employers Guide’ issued for the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations suggests “good practice is to check for correct installation and apparent function on a weekly basis”.