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Fire extinguisher inspection checklist.
Every point a monthly visual check on a portable fire extinguisher must cover, plus the annual and extended service intervals. Aligned to BS 5306-3 for UK duty holders and NFPA 10 for US facility managers.
A portable fire extinguisher has three inspection tiers: a monthly visual check by the responsible person, an annual basic service by a competent technician, and an extended service or hydrostatic test at 5, 6, 10 or 12 years depending on extinguisher type. The 10-point walk-by below is what the monthly check must cover. The service interval tables lower on the page show what the technician does at each longer interval under BS 5306-3 and NFPA 10.
Nothing on this page is legal advice. Verify inspection obligations against the current standard and a qualified fire safety competent person for your premises.
Monthly visual check: 10 points
This is the walk-by every responsible person or delegate does once a month. It takes 30 to 60 seconds per extinguisher on a well-labelled site and can be done in-house without technician qualification. All 10 points must pass for the extinguisher to remain in service.
Location and access
Extinguisher is in its designated place, visible from a distance, not obstructed by stock, furniture, seasonal decor or open doors, and reachable within the travel distance set for the hazard class (max 75 ft for Class A under NFPA 10, marked signage under BS 5306-8).
Physical condition of the body
No dents, corrosion, arc burns, paint damage exposing metal, or damage to the handle, lever, discharge nozzle or hose. Any of these fail the extinguisher on the spot and it must be replaced from spare stock while the failed unit is sent for service.
Pressure gauge in green (stored-pressure only)
Needle sits inside the green operable band, typically 100 to 175 PSI for stored-pressure dry chemical, or 195 to 240 PSI for water mist. A gauge reading in the red under-charge or over-charge band means the unit is out of service until pressure is corrected by a competent technician.
Tamper seal and pin intact
The safety pin is in place and the tamper seal (frangible wire, plastic tie, or over-cap) is unbroken. A broken seal signals the unit may have been used or interfered with and requires an internal service check before returning to duty.
Label legibility
The classification band, instructions for use, service history label, and safety pictograms are legible. Faded labels fail because a user in a fire event will not be able to read them under stress.
Hose or nozzle condition
Hose is free of cracks, splits or blockages, nozzle is clear, and horn (for CO2 units) is intact and rotates freely. A blocked nozzle means the extinguisher will not discharge when triggered.
Weight (CO2 only, if scales available)
CO2 extinguishers show weight rather than pressure. Weight loss greater than 10 percent of the charge fails the check and the cylinder must go for recharge under BS EN 3-7 / NFPA 10 6.3.2.
Signage above the extinguisher
Regulatory signage is fitted at eye level directly above or beside the unit, showing the extinguisher class and any pictogram required by local building regulations. Missing signage does not fail the extinguisher itself but is a separate finding on the walk.
Last service date
The service label shows the last basic service within the last 12 months and no scheduled extended service has been missed. A missed service date automatically fails the unit until service is complete.
Record the check
Record who did the check, the date, and the result against each extinguisher's unique ID. BS 5306-3 requires a written record kept for the responsible person under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005; NFPA 10 requires records kept for 12 months minimum on paper or electronic tag.
Service intervals: UK (BS 5306-3)
| Interval | Who / what | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly user check | In-house responsible person | Visual only, all points 1 to 10 above |
| Annual basic service | Competent technician | Full functional check, replace seals, check propellant |
| 5-year extended service | Water, foam, standard powder | Discharge, strip, refill or replace |
| 10-year extended service | Primary-sealed powder | Discharge, strip, refill or replace |
| 10-year overhaul / hydrostatic | CO2 | Pressure test cylinder to BS EN 3 |
Service intervals: US (NFPA 10)
| Interval | Who / what | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly visual inspection | Owner or occupant | Visual only, all points 1 to 10 above (or electronic monitoring per 7.2.1.1) |
| Annual maintenance | Certified technician | Full internal and external examination |
| 6-year internal exam | Stored-pressure dry chemical, halon, halocarbon | Discharge, internal inspection, recharge |
| 5-year hydrostatic test | Water, water mist, wet chemical | Pressure test cylinder shell |
| 12-year hydrostatic test | Dry chemical, CO2, halon, halocarbon | Pressure test cylinder shell |
Frequently asked
- Who is legally responsible for fire extinguisher inspections in the UK?
- Under Article 17 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the responsible person for the premises (usually the employer, building owner, occupier or managing agent) must ensure that firefighting equipment is subject to a suitable system of maintenance and is maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair. BS 5306-3 is the code of practice that defines what suitable maintenance looks like in practice.
- Can the monthly user check be done by any staff member?
- Yes, provided they have been shown what to look for. BS 5306-3 does not require formal qualification for the monthly visual check; NFPA 10 explicitly says the owner or occupant may perform the monthly inspection. The annual service is different and must be done by someone with the appropriate training and access to spares and calibration equipment, typically a BAFE SP101 registered technician in the UK or a certified extinguisher technician in the US.
- What happens if a monthly check finds a fail?
- Take the failed extinguisher out of service immediately, replace it with a spare from stock, tag the failed unit as out of service and send it for maintenance. The responsible person must record the failure and the corrective action on the inspection log. Do not simply leave the failed unit in place and note it for later; NFPA 10 4.4 and BS 5306-3 both treat leaving a failed unit in position as a compliance breach.
- How long do inspection records need to be kept?
- NFPA 10 requires records to be maintained for 12 months from the date of inspection on paper or electronic form. Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 there is no fixed retention period but the responsible person must be able to demonstrate the suitability and sufficiency of the fire safety arrangements, which in practice means keeping records for the current inspection cycle plus enough history to prove the previous fire risk assessment was correctly implemented. Most UK fire risk assessors expect at least 3 years of extinguisher inspection history on demand.
- Does electronic monitoring replace the monthly visual check?
- In the US, NFPA 10 7.2.1.1 permits electronic monitoring as an alternate to the monthly visual inspection if the monitoring system verifies location, pressure and physical presence and alerts on failure. In the UK, BS 5306-3 does not currently recognise electronic monitoring as a substitute for the monthly visual check; the check is still expected to be a physical walk-by by the responsible person or delegate.
- What's the difference between basic service and extended service?
- The annual basic service under BS 5306-3 is an external and functional check by a competent technician; the extended service (every 5 or 10 years depending on extinguisher type) requires the extinguisher to be discharged, internally inspected, refilled and pressure-tested. NFPA 10 uses different terminology (annual maintenance vs internal examination vs hydrostatic test) but covers the same intent: a rolling schedule that catches internal corrosion and propellant leakage that the annual walk cannot see.
Get the printable checklist
We are packaging the 10-point monthly check and the service interval tables as a printable PDF (A4 and US Letter) plus an editable Word version. Drop your work email and we will send it the moment it lands. No sales sequence.
Do the whole thing on the phone
Hovermarks Inspection turns the 10-point monthly check into a scannable pass/fail per extinguisher. QR tag on the unit, form on the phone, evidence pack per site. Overdue units chase themselves.
- BS 5306-3 and NFPA 10 templates pre-loaded
- Overdue extinguishers escalate automatically
- Offline-first for depots and remote sites
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