How often should fire extinguishers be serviced?

The short answer

Under BS 5306-3 (the British Standard referenced by the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005), fire extinguishers must be serviced at least once every 12 months by a competent person. There are additional, more involved checks at 5 years and 10 years.

The full schedule

• Monthly — visual inspection by the Responsible Person. Pressure gauge in the green, no corrosion or damage, tamper seal intact, correctly sited with signage visible.
• Annually — basic service by a competent (qualified) person under BS 5306-3. Hose, nozzle and operating mechanism checked; weight verified on CO₂ units; service label updated; certificate issued.
• Every 5 years — extended service for most stored-pressure units (Water, Foam, Powder). The extinguisher is discharged, internally inspected and refilled.
• Every 10 years — overhaul or replacement. CO₂ extinguishers require a 10-year pressure test; for most other types replacement is more economic.

The monthly check nobody books

The interval that catches the most problems is the free one. Walking the building once a month to confirm every unit is on its bracket, unobstructed, undamaged, sealed and reading in the green takes very little time and is expected of the responsible person under BS 5306-8. Our service visits regularly find a unit that went missing eight months earlier, which the monthly check would have caught the same week.

What happens at the annual basic service

Every extinguisher, every 12 months, on site. External condition and corrosion, correct weight or pressure, hose and horn condition, safety pin and tamper seal, legible instructions facing outwards, bracket and signage, and the right unit for the risk it is sitting next to. The unit gets a new tag and the log book is completed before we leave. Where a unit fails, in-van replacement stock means no location is left uncovered — fixed fee, agreed up front.

The 5-year extended service and 10-year overhaul in detail

Water, foam and wet chemical units, and stored-pressure powder units, are discharged, opened, examined internally, refilled and recharged at the 5-year point. Some settings put powder on a different cycle, so the servicing schedule states the due date per unit rather than applying a blanket rule. CO₂ extinguishers are high-pressure cylinders and are not opened up on site: at 10 years they go for overhaul and pressure testing, and in practice many sites take a tested replacement unit instead, which keeps the location covered with no gap.

Reading your own log book

A well-kept log makes the next few years cheap and predictable. Each unit should carry its type, location, date of manufacture, date of last basic service and the date the extended service or overhaul falls due. Where several units in a building were installed at once, the 5-year and 10-year costs arrive together — worth planning for rather than being surprised by. With correct servicing most units have a working life in the region of 20 years, after which replacement is normally the sensible route.

What happens if you miss a service

Missed services invalidate the extinguisher for compliance purposes — it would be flagged on a Fire Risk Assessment, may invalidate your buildings insurance, and could be cited in any enforcement action by the fire and rescue authority. From a practical view, an out-of-service extinguisher may not work when needed.

Who counts as a "competent person"?

BS 5306-3 expects training, current technical knowledge and access to spare parts and tools. In practice that means a third-party-accredited (e.g. BAFE SP101) engineer with their own ID. Anyone presenting a service tag should be willing to share their accreditation number.

Multi-site landlords

If you run multiple HMOs or commercial premises, a single annual contract across every site with one renewal date is the simplest way to stay on top of servicing — every unit is tracked by serial number and flagged before the 5-year and 10-year dates.