If your fire risk assessment determines that you need portable fire extinguishers, it is important that they are located in the correct position. GetTesting can perform a full turnkey service for your extinguisher needs, from design & siting, to sales, installation, servicing & refilling.
With public liability, professional indemnity & failure to function insurance
Same great service for blue chips or sole traders
No ‘technicians’ – qualified service engineers only
Testing arranged to cause minimum disruption
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Do fire extinguishers need installing by a professional?
The short answer is no. When you purchase an extinguisher from a reputable source, they’ll come with instructions on how and where to install. Your fire risk assessment should have already identified the risks and the extinguisher to cover that risk should be located near. They can be installed on ‘J’ brackets that are often shipped with the fire extinguisher, or on a suitable stand or inside a cabinet.
Installation by a third-party may be preferred if there isn’t a suitably competent person available to fix the extinguishers in their correct places. This might be the lack of a handyman, or on larger jobs like an office fitout or new building.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the different colour codes on a fire extinguisher?
BSEN3 is the standard that dictates fire extinguishers should be 95% red with up to 5% of another colour to identify the type of extinguisher. The different colour codes are:
Water = Red
Dry Powder = Blue
Foam = Cream
CO2 = Black
Wet Chemical = Yellow
Why are there different types of fire extinguisher?
Different types of fires have different characteristics. What they are fuelled by significantly alters how they must be extinguished. The different extinguishers are then located in different areas of the building to ensure that the risks of that area are sufficiently covered.
Are any fire extinguishers all purpose?
None can ever be sold as ‘all purpose’ as some specialist materials will require specialist extinguishing equipment, however some extinguishers are ‘multi-purpose’ and can extinguish different types of fires.
What types of fire extinguishers can be used on what types of fires?
This handy graphic shows you exactly what type of fire each extinguisher can be used on. If you’re not sure or if you have specialist risks such as flammable metals, please get in touch for details of our risk assessment & fire extinguisher selection service.
How often should a fire extinguisher be serviced?
At least once per year, with annually being the most common frequency of servicing.
How do you dispose of a fire extinguisher?
Fire extinguishers must be disposed of by a competent person. If they are under pressure they are extremely dangerous and should never be placed in general waste. The contents must be disposed of in different ways depending on what they are. The bodies, once empty and unpressurised, are mostly metal and will be sent for recycling once made safe by a fire extinguisher engineer. To make it simple we can deal with this for you while servicing.
Can you refill extinguishers?
Mostly, yes, although it depends on the type. Refilling Dry Powder extinguishers is not straightforward as the valves require cleaning to make sure the power has not contaminated it on discharge. Aerosol type extinguishers are sealed and cannot be serviced. For some types, it’s cheaper to buy new & recycle the old extinguisher than to refill.
What height should extinguishers be stored at?
Any extinguishers over 2kg, and a 2kg CO2, should have their handles mounted at 1m from the floor level.
Any fire extinguishers smaller than this, should have their handles mounted at 1.5m from the ground.