Frequently Asked Questions
Over nearly two decades of working within the fire safety industry I've been asked a fair few questions. Below I have included some, with my responses. If you can't find the answer to your own question here or would like me to explain anything, please feel free to drop me a line and I'll do my best to put you on the right track.
Extinguishers:
1 What is BS 5306?
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British Standard 5306 is the standard for extinguishers and BS 5306-3: 2017 is the section that focuses on portable extinguishers.
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2 How long do extinguishers last?
Broadly speaking between 5 - 10 years. Water, foam, powder and wet chemical should last you 5 years, where C02's are good for 10 years. Once these duration's are up, C02's are sent away to be pressure tested, refurbished and refilled. Everything else would usually undergo an 'extended service' once their 5 years is up. This involves emptying the extinguisher, checking its internal lining, refilling, replacement of o-rings, re-assembling and re-pressurizing. As you can imagine, this very labor intensive, time consuming and messy! Even for a small site just containing a handful of extinguishers, this can take hours. Given these factors, and the frequent lack of suitable area in which to conduct such a service, most companies now opt for a service replacement option. Replacing due extinguishers with pre-refurbished units, proves to be quicker, cleaner and more economical.
3 How many extinguishers do I need?
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Well, that all depends on your business/property. Every site is different and every site contains different risks. As tempting as it may be to buy cheap extinguisher online and throw them in where you think best, this is seldom an acceptable option. Having the wrong type of extinguisher can be seriously detrimental to the users health - at best and life threatening at worse. This is also applicable to the extinguishers size. Sadly, over the years I have witnessed first hand the result of unsuitable extinguishers being discharged in certain areas - more often causing significant avoidable damage to property and on a few occasions injury to the user.
4 I've seen P50 extinguishers, they don't need maintaining.
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Not true. Unfortunately, I've had number of new customers in recent years that have fallen foul of this. P50 extinguishers do not meet British Standard 5306-3: 2017. While sold as 'maintenance free', and are of a very good quality, by law all of your extinguishers require annually servicing. The 'maintenance free' aspect also doesn't take into account any physical damage that they may incur between visits - something that is checked on their annual service. At £125+ each too, they're not always a good option.
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