ASK AN EXPERT: WHY DO I NEED FIRE ALARM MAINTENANCE ?
FIRE ALARM MAINTENANCE
Is fire alarm maintenance a requirement in the UK?
Fire alarm maintenance regulations only state that your fire alarm system must be ‘adequately maintained’, however BS 5839 recommends that a fire alarm system should be inspected by a competent person at least every 6 months.
FIRE ALARM MAINTENANCE CERTIFICATION
Maintenance requires certification, not just an engineer’s sheet saying ‘All serviced okay’ but an actual BS5359:part1:2013 certificate of maintenance. There are many UK businesses with either no servicing or non-compliant servicing. This failure often only comes to light when the business is chosen for a fire officer’s inspection or they have a fire. In the end should a prosecution take place then it’s ‘The Responsible Person’ who will be accountable – This is not the head of health and safety or personnel but the business owner. There’s no escaping the fact that an annual service routine is imperative for commercial fire-alarm systems.
WHO CAN CARRY OUT FIRE ALARM MAINTENANCE?
The standards state that servicing must be carried out by a ‘competent person’. Government guidelines help in this clarification by suggesting that ‘due diligence’ in selecting a competent person is helped by picking a company with third-party certification such as the BAFE SP203 Modular Scheme.
Any business with five employees or more must have a current fire-risk assessment. This assessment would immediately uncover any poor servicing or complete lack of servicing. So, if you were unsure if you need your fire alarm servicing it sounds like you haven’t got an adequate, current fire-risk assessment either!
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