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Inspection
There’s also information within government specifications,they would be relied upon in court as evidence of expected practice to comply with the law.
These guidelines specify the following:
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A yearly check that extinguishers are in place and undamaged
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Visual inspections yearly, by the responsible person, to confirm the extinguisher is in place, unobstructed, visible, has operating instructions which are clean and legible, has not been operated, is undamaged, the pressure gauge or indicator (if fitted) shows it’s functional, and seals and tamper indicators are not missing
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Annual servicing by a competent person
While points one and two above can be carried out by almost anyone with basic instruction, number three is generally reserved for qualified technicians.
Annual servicing involves knowledge of different types of cylinders and their servicing needs under knowledge of safe methods of work when working with pressure vessels, the use of specialist equipment and refill facilities, and more.
When looking for a company to carrying out a servicing contract you must ensure that they are competent. If you wanted to train someone in-house to take on this task there are three day courses available.
This traditional route for annual servicing is the way to go if you have standard extinguishers (ie not the service-free type).
The need for commissioning tends to rule out the idea of buying cheaper extinguishers directly from, for instance, internet suppliers, as you probably won’t have the qualifications to do it in-house. In practice, commissioning involves a full check
If you only require types of extinguishers which are available in the service-free range this could work for you. However in practice most businesses need some carbon dioxide extinguisher cover due to electrical equipment within their building. This being the case, you should weigh up the initial and annual costs carefully before making your decision.
As a final word of caution, don’t lose sight of the fact that extinguishers are present for use in a life-threatening emergency. This is not an area where cost savings should override other considerations.
Refill/recharge
Fire extinguishers need to be recharged periodically throughout their life, even if they haven't been used. ... For the most commonly used stored pressure dry chemical fire extinguishers, this internal examination and recharging is required at six and twelve years from the date of manufacture noted on the extinguisher
repair
Fire extinguishers cannot be repaired in most circumstances, most times hardware needs to be tightened and in most cases it’s actually cheaper to replace a fire extinguisher. Often people refer to repair when they mean fire extinguisher recharge. If there is no damage to the fire extinguisher you can refill the same canister. Once the extinguisher has been used, you must recharge it.
replace
The maintenance and replacement of a fire extinguisher depends on the type of extinguisher. Wet chemical fire extinguishers should be tested every 5 years. Dry chemical fire extinguishers should be hydrostatically tested every 12 years, with general maintenance conducted every 6 years
Pressurized water, carbon dioxide, and wet chemical extinguishers have a minimum service life of 5 years. After these respective time periods, to continue using a fire extinguisher, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) requires that the extinguisher be subjected to service or hydrostatic testing
