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Below is a summary of good practice and the key points of the parts of BS 5306-3:2003 relating to the maintenance of portable fire extinguishers. Readers are referred to the British Standard itself for full details and reminded that this is a summary only.

This document is broken down into the following sections:

• Excluded Extinguisher Types
• Maintenance of Portable Fire Extinguishers
• The Visual Inspection
• The Basic Service
• The Extended Service

Throughout, references to the pertinent parts of the British Standards and/or other legislation have been included as footnotes.

Maintenance of certain extinguishers are not covered by BS 5306-3:2003 because of their type, construction, method of operation or condition. Many such extinguishers require being automatically condemned because of the inherent inability to ascertain their safety. Examples of these include:

• Chemical Foam Portable Fire Extinguishers
• Soda-Acid Portable Fire Extinguishers
• Portable Fire Extinguishers with riveted body shell
• Portable Fire Extinguishers with plastic body shell
• Portable Fire Extinguishers that require inversion to operate
• Non-refillable Portable Fire Extinguishers that have reached their expiry date.

In addition to the out of date non-refillable extinguishers that must be condemned, we must also advise replacing any non-refillable extinguishers that are within date, unless they feature a pressure gauge.

It is now (from 1^st January 2004) an offence for end-users to even possess Halon extinguishers¹. We would be obliged to report users to the authorities should they request us to do so.

Apart from the extinguishers mentioned above, most can be maintained in accordance with the British Standard BS 5306-3:2003. The maintenance cycle for extinguishers should consist of four stages:

• Inspection by the user, conducted at least monthly².
• Basic service, conducted at least on an annual basis³.
• Extended service including discharge testing or refurbishing, which, except for CO₂ extinguishers and a few certain other exceptions, is carried out after the first five years, and then at five yearly intervals thereafter (as shown on the table below)³.
• In addition to being a recommendation of BS 5306-3:2003, stretch testing CO₂ extinguishers after 10 years is actually a legal requirement under the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000.
• Replacement, which should be performed by no later than at age 20 years⁴.

The visual inspection by the User (or their representative), which should be conducted at least monthly, should check that each extinguisher²:

• Is located correctly.
• Is unobstructed and visible
• Has it’s clean and legible operating instructions facing outward.
• Is not obviously damaged or tampered with (i.e. no broken tamper indicators or seals)
• Has a pressure gauge (where fitted) that reads in the operable range.

The basic service should be conducted at least on an annual basis³ by a trained, practiced and independently qualified person⁸. The specifics of the basic service are too complex to list here (and the reader is referred to the British Standard for full details), but will include, depending on extinguisher type, the following:

• External examination for signs of corrosion, dents, splits, gauges or other damage.
• Examination and checking of pressure indicating devices.
• Measurement of pressure, weight, etc to ensure that there is the correct amount of both medium and propellant gas.
• Checking of all applicable parts to ensure good working order (this will include removal of the safety pin, BS 5306-3:2003 compliant pull-tag and other anti-tamper indicators, which, in many cases, will need replacing⁹).
• Mandatory replacement of washers, ‘O’ rings, seals and diaphragms for horns, nozzles, hoses and valves whenever these components are removed¹⁰.

In addition to the basic service of the equipment as above, the person performing the basic service should also make any recommendations to ensure adequate and appropriate cover in compliance with BS 5306-8:2000.

Except for CO₂ extinguishers and a few certain other exceptions, the extended service is carried out after the first five years, and then at five yearly intervals thereafter (as shown on the table above)³. This should be arranged at the time of the basic service.

In addition to the procedure followed for the basic service, the extended service includes more rigorous checks including the discharge test or, in the case of CO₂ extinguishers, refurbishment (which includes a hydraulic pressure test). The schedule for this work is as per the table above.

Unfortunately, the British Standards are covered by copyright and are not available freely. However, these can be purchased at British Standard Online or alternatively, some libraries may carry copies of the more common standards.

1. The Montreal Protocol, it’s amendments in the 1990s, EC Regulation No 2037/2000 [1], The Environmental Protection (Controls on Ozone-Depleting Substances) Regulations 2002 [6] and The Environmental Protection (Controls on Ozone-Depleting Substances) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2003 have led to all Halon extinguishers being illegal to possess after 31st December 2003 except for the “critical uses” (as listed by Annex VII of EC Regulation No 2037/2000 [1]). These “critical uses” are very much the exception and, in those cases, this document does not detail the service schedule required.
2. As per BS 5306-3:2003, clause 4
3. As per BS 5306-3:2003, clause 5 and Annex A (normative), table A.1
4. Extinguishers should be replaced at 20 years because (a) DRAFT prEN XXXX July 1995, CEN TC70, from WG4 N.174 is expected to introduce compulsory 20 year life times on most extinguishers, and (b) BS 5306-3:2003 Annex A.1 (normative) would otherwise necessitate discharge-testing or refurbishing the extinguisher which is already coming to the end of it’s life, and is therefore economically unviable (the cost of discharge testing or refurbishing is usually a large proportion of the cost of replacement).
5. The requirement for stretch testing CO₂ extinguishers after 10 years is actually a legal requirement under the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000.
6. Class D extinguishers are powder extinguishers and treated thus in the British Standard. These details assume that the extinguisher in question is not a primary-sealed extinguisher.
7. Class F extinguishers are water-based extinguishers and treated thus in the British Standard.
8. As per The Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999 [9], BS 5306-3:2003, clause 5.1 and Annex E (informative).
9. As per BS 5306-3:2003, Annex A (normative), table B.4 Action number 12.
10. As per BS 5306-3:2003, Annex A (normative), table B.4 Action number 14.