When is your testing due?

Do you know when your testing is due?….

Did you know it is not only required by law to have the correct fire safety within a building but it’s also required by law to have your equipment regularly maintained and serviced too. From fire risk assessments to fire extinguishers, they all have a schedule of when testing, maintenance and reviews should be completed.

Emergency lighting tests – to be carried out at a minimum once a year.

A test for the full rated duration of the emergency lights (e.g. 3 hours) must be carried out. The emergency lights must still be working at the end of this test. The result must be recorded and, if failures are detected, these must be remedied as soon as possible.

Fire extinguisher servicing – to be serviced on a yearly basis.

Extinguishers in commercial or public buildings should be visually inspected monthly for damage or pressure loss and should be serviced to BS 5306-3 once a year. Water, foam, and powder extinguishers must be discharged and refilled every five years, CO2 extinguishers must be refurbished after ten years.

Fire Alarm tests – to be serviced on a bi annual basis.

UK fire alarm regulations state that your fire alarm system must be ‘adequately maintained’, however BS 5839 recommends that a fire alarm system should be inspected by a competent person at least every 6 months and the government recommends following this standard. In fact, if you work out of large premises, we would recommend a quarterly service or audit, as there are many more components to your fire alarm system, and therefore more opportunities for something to go wrong.

Fire risk assessments – to be reviewed on a annual basis 

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order imposes a legal requirement to undertake a Fire Risk Assessment. A Fire risk assessment should be completed and reviewed on an annual basis or whenever there is a significant change. This applies to:

• all businesses who have 5 or more employees (including part-time)
• business premises visited by the public
• landlords with control over business premises
• landlords of HMO properties
• self-employed with business premises

Here at MAGG we complete the above services and many more! for more help and information contact us on 01785 711088