How Often Should a Fire Extinguisher Be Serviced?
Fire extinguishers are among the most familiar pieces of fire safety equipment in any building, and the question of how often they need servicing comes up constantly. It is a fair question to ask, partly because the answer carries a legal weight that many responsible persons are not aware of, and partly because the arrangements offered in practice vary so widely. Over the years we have seen extinguisher servicing offered every six months and every twelve, carried out thoroughly and carried out very poorly, and we have seen extinguishers sold on the basis that they need no servicing at all. With so many different messages in circulation, it is worth setting out plainly what the standards and the legislation actually require.
Are extinguishers even required?
Strictly speaking, portable fire extinguishers are not named as a universal legal requirement for every building, but in the great majority of premises they will be needed. Article 13 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires that, where appropriate, premises are equipped with suitable firefighting equipment, and that any non-automatic equipment is easily accessible, simple to use and indicated by signs. What counts as appropriate for your building is determined by your fire risk assessment, which establishes the type, number and location of extinguishers suited to the risks present, with the relevant guidance on selection and siting set out in BS 5306-8.
How often servicing is actually required
Once extinguishers are in place, maintaining them is where the firm legal requirement sits. The law requires extinguishers to be maintained in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions, which for conventional extinguishers follow BS 5306-3, the code of practice for the commissioning and maintenance of portable fire extinguishers. Under that standard, maintenance falls into a few distinct tiers, and it helps to see them together rather than as a single annual event.
Commissioning on installation
When extinguishers are first installed they must be commissioned by a competent person to confirm they are fit for purpose, which includes fitting the hose or horn, checking seals and washers, verifying the gauge where fitted, confirming the correct type, rating and location, and applying a commissioning label and weight. This is the baseline that all later servicing is measured against.
Monthly visual checks
It is considered best practice for the responsible person to carry out a brief visual inspection each month, confirming that each extinguisher is in its correct position and unobstructed, that the pin, seal and gauge are intact and reading correctly, and that there is no rust, damage or sign of tampering, with powder units inverted to check the contents are still free flowing. These checks are not onerous, they should be recorded, and they are the most reliable way of catching a problem long before it matters.
The annual basic service
Every twelve months it is a legal requirement for each extinguisher to undergo a basic service carried out by a third party accredited and competent technician, who checks the body for defects, verifies the pressure and weight, inspects the hose and nozzle for blockages or wear, confirms the seals, and records the work on the service tag and in the log book. This annual service, performed by a competent professional, is the requirement that responsible persons most often ask us about, and it is the one most worth getting right.
Extended servicing at five and ten years
Beyond the annual service, certain extinguishers need a deeper, periodic overhaul. Water, foam, powder and wet chemical extinguishers require an extended service every five years, in which the unit is discharged, inspected internally for defects, then refilled and resealed. Carbon dioxide extinguishers follow a different cycle, requiring a more comprehensive overhaul, including a pressure test, every ten years. These intervals run alongside the annual service rather than replacing it.
Setting the record straight
This is where the confusion we mentioned at the start tends to arise. The standard requirement for conventional extinguishers is an annual basic service, supported by the responsible person's own monthly checks, so a building does not generally need a technician attending every six months, and an annual visit from a competent, accredited engineer meets the requirement. More frequent visits do no harm in themselves, but they are not what the standard asks for, and it is worth understanding that distinction before agreeing to a contract built around them.
Quality matters at least as much as frequency. A service is only meaningful if it is carried out properly by a competent technician, which is why third party accreditation, such as BAFE registration under the SP101 scheme, is the simplest way for a responsible person to have confidence that the work has been done to the standard. An annual tag on the extinguisher is reassuring only if the service behind it was thorough.
What about "service-free" extinguishers?Some premises are offered service-free or long-life extinguishers, the best known being the P50 type, and these are a legitimate, Kitemarked product. It is more accurate to say they reduce the servicing burden than that they remove it. The legal duty is to maintain extinguishers in line with the manufacturer's instructions, and for these units that still means a documented annual visual inspection, which the responsible person can be trained to carry out, together with a full refurbishment by the manufacturer at the ten year point. They can be a sensible choice for the right building, provided the duties that come with them are understood and followed.
Who is responsible
The responsibility for all of this rests with the responsible person for the premises, who carries out or arranges the monthly visual checks and, just as importantly, ensures the annual basic service is booked with a competent, accredited technician and that the extended services fall due at the right intervals. The work itself must be done by a qualified person, but the duty to make sure it happens, and to keep the records that prove it, stays with the responsible person.
Why our view on this is impartialWe do not sell, supply or service fire extinguishers, so we have no commercial interest in how many you have or how often they are serviced. When we assess your building, we tell you what Article 13 and the relevant standards actually require for your premises, which gives you an objective reference point to set against any servicing contract or product you have been offered.
If you are unsure whether your current extinguisher provision and servicing arrangements meet the requirement, or whether you are paying for more frequent visits than the standard calls for, the most reliable way to find out is through a competent fire risk assessment that looks at your firefighting equipment alongside everything else. As independent assessors covering the North West, North Wales and the West Midlands, we are glad to give you a clear and impartial view, with nothing to sell you at the end of it.
Unsure if your extinguishers meet the requirement?
We can review your firefighting equipment and servicing arrangements as part of a fire risk assessment and tell you exactly what the standards require for your building, with no products or contracts to sell you. If you would like to discuss it, please get in touch.
Get in touch Fire Risk AssessmentsThis article is provided for general guidance and does not constitute professional advice for any specific premises. It refers to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and to BS 5306-3 and BS 5306-8, the British Standards covering the maintenance, selection and positioning of portable fire extinguishers. Considerable care has been taken to ensure accuracy at the time of writing, but legislation and guidance change over time. Fletcher Risk Management Limited provides Fire Risk Assessments, Fire Door Inspections and Fire Safety Training across the North West, North Wales and the West Midlands.