Portable Fire Extinguisher Provision and Maintenance Goring
Portable fire extinguishers are common in industrial and commercial premises. But not all are maintained to the highest standards.
South East Fire Protection LTD is a registered company to BAFE Competency of Portable Fire Extinguisher Organisations and Technicians (SP101) scheme, providing confidence to our customers that by using us you have appointed a competent and safe company.
It is a legal requirement that any fire extinguisher you have on your industrial or commercial premises is in good working order.
There are also rules regarding the number of extinguishers and their location:
- For a floor in a building, the correct number of water fire extinguishers to tackle Class A fires (fires involving combustible solids such as paper, wood, cloth, plastics etc) may be determined if the fire rating of the floor is known.
- The fire rating is found by multiplying the floor area in m2 by 0.065. For a floor area of 200m2 the fire rating is 200 x 0.065 = 13. A minimum of 2 x 13A rated fire extinguishers should be provided per floor in accordance with BS53086.
- For special risks such as fires involving live electrical equipment, a suitable fire extinguisher such as carbon dioxide should be provided.
- Generally, extinguishers should be located at exits from rooms or storeys, in corridors that form parts of escape routes, and on landings.
- Extinguishers for special risks such as electrical fires, flammable liquid fires, or cooking oil fires should be located near the risk in accordance with BS5306.
Annual Fire Extinguisher Maintenance
Goring employers must, under The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order, ensure that fire extinguishers within the workplace are regularly serviced and are kept in good repair and working order.
This process is documented in BS 5306 – 3:2009 Commissioning & maintenance of portable fire extinguishers and BS 5306 – 9:2015 Recharging of portable fire extinguishers.
This is a requirement of BS 5306 Part 3, which states that you must have all your fire extinguishers serviced by a competent person once a year
South East Fire Protection LTD (SEFP) engineers are qualified to provide advice on the suitability, positioning of portable extinguishers and carry out annual maintenance requirement. Our engineers hold BAFE (British Approvals for Fire Equipment) certificates to provide our customers with the proof they are competent.
Our obligation is to ensure fire extinguisher inspections for our Goring clients are carried out correctly.
