Every six months. AS 1851-2012 sets a six-monthly service for every portable fire extinguisher, an annual examination that adds an internal inspection of dry powder and carbon dioxide units, and a five-yearly hydrostatic pressure test with a full discharge, internal clean and recharge. A monthly owner check that each unit is in place, sealed and in the green is recommended practice above the standard.
The intervals
| Interval | What happens | Who |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly (recommended practice) | Owner or occupier walk: each extinguisher in place, unobstructed, seal intact, gauge in the green, no damage. The standard's first interval is six-monthly; the monthly walk is the cheapest check in the building. | Owner or staff |
| Six-monthly | Service of the body, hose, nozzle, operating mechanism, pressure and agent; the service tag is punched and the register updated. | Fire services contractor |
| Annual | The six-monthly routine plus a full examination, with an internal inspection of dry powder and carbon dioxide units and cylinders weighed. | Fire services contractor |
| Five-yearly | Hydrostatic pressure test, full discharge, internal clean, recharge and certification. A unit that fails is retired. | Fire services contractor or test station |
Who does it and what to keep
The six-monthly, annual and five-yearly work is done by a fire services contractor. Each visit leaves a punched service tag on the unit and an entry in the extinguisher register: unit number, location, type, size, dates of the last service, annual examination and pressure test, and the date the next one is due. In New South Wales the extinguishers are an essential fire safety measure listed on the annual fire safety statement, so the year's service records are what the statement rests on. Everywhere else the insurer asks for the same records.
The rule behind the interval
AS 1851-2012 Routine service of fire protection systems and equipment sets the intervals; the building regulation of each state adopts it as the maintenance standard for the fire safety measures the building was approved with. The standard does not fix a replacement age. A unit is retired when it fails the five-yearly test or reaches the manufacturer's stated life.
Common questions
Do fire extinguishers have to be replaced after a set number of years?
No. AS 1851-2012 does not set a replacement age. An extinguisher stays in service while it passes its six-monthly service and five-yearly pressure test, until the manufacturer's stated life is reached or it fails a test.
Who can service a fire extinguisher?
A fire services contractor, or a person trained and equipped to the standard. The five-yearly pressure test is specialist work, usually at a test station. Owners do the monthly visual check.
Put it in the register
An interval only holds when the asset is listed with its tasks, its contractor and where the record lives. Standara's library carries this asset with the tasks above attached, so adding it to a site's register produces the year's schedule, the monthly to-do list and the completion record the auditor or insurer asks for. The fuller picture, with the neighbouring assets and the rule behind each interval, is in the AS 1851 maintenance schedule.
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- A worked example: one club's register, planner and records for a year
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