Fire Extinguisher Servicing

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

There are 2 types of maintenance procedures: 

	Basic inspection by the user; and
	Maintenance by competent person.

1.      British Standard 5306-3:2000 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.

2.      Maintenance should be carried out by a competent person (usually a specialist contractor) 12 months after installation of a new extinguisher, and at 12 monthly intervals thereafter. The following chart shows the basic types & frequency of maintenance: 

If you require fire extinguisher servicing please fill in the servicing fire extinguishers form and we will get in touch.