Proper maintenance of fire extinguishers during annual inspections is required for U.S. businesses. Contact Industrial Fire today for your extinguisher inspection needs.
Extinguisher Inspections
Proper maintenance of fire extinguishers during annual inspections is required for U.S. businesses. Why? Reason #1 is that your extinguishers must be able fight fire effectively. Reason #2 is that code violations are dangerous and frankly, violations can be embarrassing and expensive. What does it say about a company and how they care for employees and customers when that company doesn’t even keep the fire extinguishers up-to-date? Extinguisher inspections are required even when money is tight.
Therefore, it is important to understand a few basics of fire extinguisher inspections and what is required to ensure that your fire extinguishers are ready at all times. Check out some basics of fire extinguisher inspections and repeat preventative maintenance (RPM) steps below. Industrial Fire can help you simplify your compliance and give you peace of mind with your ABC fire extinguishers, specialty extinguishers, extinguisher inspections, and more.
ANNUAL INSPECTIONS & REPEAT PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE (RPM)
Annual inspections are the minimum requirement. NFPA 10 requires that maintenance on every portable fire extinguishers at your facility be completed on an annual basis. This maintenance includes an annual external examination of all extinguishers, and according to NFPA 10 7.3.2, its purpose is to:
Perform visual inspection (looking for excessive rust, corrosion, dented cylinder, etc.)
determine if the nozzle has become blocked
ensure that the operating instructions are still on the unit, facing forward and able to be clearly read
check that the HMIS is present
fix any issues which are discovered
among other things
Finally, we install dated annual tamper seals and inspection tags after completing your annual extinguisher inspection and repeat preventative maintenance
ADDITIONAL REPEAT PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE (RPM)
5-YEAR HYDROSTATIC TEST
The hydrostatic test is required every five years for carbon dioxide, water-based extinguishers and some other types.
6-YEAR MAINTENANCE
6-year maintenance is required for ABC fire extinguishers. In addition to the annual inspection and RPM, a proper 6-year includes:
Emptying the cylinder of chemical to inspect the interior of the cylinder with a light and also to examine the quality of the chemical
Replacing the O-ring and the valve stem, even if they appear to be in good condition. Unless the extinguisher is used, the 6-year is likely the only time that a technician have extinguisher dismantled. Replacing the O-ring and valve stem with factory parts is important for the longevity, compliance, and proper function of your ABC fire extinguisher.
If the extinguisher passes the 6-year maintenance, then a qualified Industrial Fire technician affixes a permanent label to the cylinder confirming that a proper 6-year maintenance transpired.
The tag lists the person who completed the inspection and the company.
12-YEAR HYDROSTATIC TEST
The 12-year hydrostatic test is required on most stored-pressure units and all cartridge-operated extinguishers.
ENJOY PEACE OF MIND. SIMPLIFY.
Get with Industrial Fire to stay in full compliance with all of the fire codes and regulations governing extinguisher maintenance. Simplify by consolidating vendors and enjoy peace of mind. Let Industrial Fire proactively schedule your business to keep everything up-to-date and documented behind password-protected firewall. All backed by Industrial Fire’s Rest Easy Guarantee™
Contact Us for a FREE Evaluation & Quote
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Phone: 713-223-9181
The information included in this site is for reference only and is based on our interpretation of the codes. The actual code publications should be consulted when comprehensive data is required and to ensure compliance with the applicable codes, and the Authority Having Jurisdiction is the ultimate decision-maker. Accordingly, Industrial Fire Equipment and Service, LLC (hereinafter referred to as “Industrial Fire”) make no representations or warranties, express or implied, with respect to the information contained in this resource, nor does it assume any obligation or liability for any advice given by Industrial Fire arising out of or related to this resource.