Guide
How often should a fire alarm be serviced? What the law says
Updated
Most servicing pages state a six-monthly interval as though Parliament wrote it. It did not. Knowing where the interval actually comes from changes how you buy the contract.
The Order sets a duty, not a schedule
Article 17 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires that the premises and any facilities, equipment and devices provided in respect of the premises are subject to a suitable system of maintenance and are maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair, where necessary to safeguard relevant persons (legislation.gov.uk). Read the article and you will find no number of months in it. The Order does not tell you how often to service a fire alarm.
Where the interval really comes from
- BS 5839-1
- The British Standard covering fire detection and fire alarm systems for non-domestic premises. It is the document behind the servicing pattern the UK market uses, including the routine test regime and the periodic inspection and servicing visits that most contracts are built around. It is a paywalled standard, so we name it rather than reproduce it: ask your servicing company to state which clause their proposed frequency follows.
- Your fire risk assessment
- Article 9 of the Fire Safety Order requires the responsible person to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks and to review it regularly. That assessment is what justifies more frequent servicing in a high risk building, or a different pattern where the standard's default does not fit.
- Your insurer and your lease
- Neither is law, but both regularly impose a servicing frequency and a competence requirement, and both are entitled to see the records. Check them before you cut visits.
Following a recognised standard is how a responsible person demonstrates the maintenance system in article 17 is suitable. Departing from it is possible, but the reasoning then has to be in your fire risk assessment rather than in a phone call with a contractor.
What changes the frequency for your building
- The risk profile of the premises: sleeping accommodation, care settings and buildings with vulnerable occupants sit at the demanding end.
- The system category recorded on your design and commissioning certificates. Category designations such as L1 or M come from BS 5839-1 and describe what the system is there to protect.
- The age and reliability of the equipment, including any pattern of unwanted alarms.
- Changes to the building. New partitions, a change of use or a new tenant layout can put detection in the wrong places, which is a design question rather than a servicing one.
The weekly test is a separate thing
The routine user test that most premises run weekly is carried out by your own staff, not by the servicing company, and it is not the same as the periodic service visit. It exists so that faults are found in days rather than months, and so that occupants recognise the sound. See the weekly fire alarm test for how it is normally run and recorded.