Garry Webster

Hi Thanks for pointing out our error. You are right, water extinguishers neither require repainting nor pressure testing after ten years. We had this mixed up with CO2 fire extinguishers in our reply. So, yes, as long as the water extinguisher is free of corrosion, without lining defects and generally sound, there is no need to replace after ten years. Thanks for keeping watch!

Yes, not having ordinary fire extinguishers serviced can be a criminal offence. Maybe worth mentioning at this point is that, after five years of development, Britannia Fire has now introduced the Fireworld extinguishers, a UK manufactured fire extinguisher that is guaranteed for ten years and does neither require servicing by external engineers nor refilling after five years. These Fireworld extinguishers still must be visually inspected by the owners or their representatives, however no special skills are required. Unless your business has Fireworld extinguishers installed, a yearly fire extinguisher service must be carried out by competent persons, which usually means a fire service engineer.

Neither, it's not Absolute Legislation nor Approved Code of Practice; it is simple a code of practice. ACoP's are a HSE thing but Codes of Practice are regarded as best practice and if an employer/individual faces criminal prosecution under fire safety law, and it is proved that the recommendations of the Code of Practice has not been followed, a court may regard it as evidence of guilt unless it is satisfied that the employer/individual has complied some other way. The legislation says you may need a emergency escape lighting. BS 5266 - 1 tells you how to install it.

A generator is treated a little bit like a central battery system with slave emergency luminaires. You would need to use maintained slave luminaires in the building and the power cables to the lights would have to be fire resistant. The generator would have to be properly maintained. If you would want to use non-maintained slave luminaires you would also have to monitor the different circuits to ensure that fuse blows would not render the system in-operable. It is important that you assess the entire building system and also carefully consider the maintenance procedure for the generator. I hope this helps Cheers Garry

Some fire brigades are now carrying out servicing to create an extra income. Just ask them. If not you can research on the internet for nationwide fire extinguisher servicing

Most professional extinguishers are designed to last ten years. After 5 years, foam, powder and water extinguishers need to be refilled. CO2 extinguisher only need to be refilled after ten years. And in theory you can indeed refill CO2 extinguishers after ten years, however, BSI requires you to pressure test the cylinder and to re-paint it, so it is usually not worth it, as it is cheaper to buy new.

Hi Sorry, do you mean ours specifically or any extinguisher?

Hi If the extinguisher is empty you can take it to your recycling centre or to a scrap dealer. If it is a still full powder or foam extinguisher it is best to pass your extinguisher to the service engineers when he /she installs new fire extinguishers even though they will probably charge you. They will responsibly dispose of the extinguisher (foams and powders are collected and used eg for fertilisers). If you are a home user you can add small extinguishers to the household waste. If you have large extinguishers it is best to ring a fire safety company for a collection price. Water extinguishers can simply be emptied down the drain, CO2 fire extinguishers can be discharged outside into the environment (careful, this can be very loud and the jet from a CO2 can freeze things as it is extremely cold). Don't be attempted to empty large powder extinguishers - they make an awful mess!

Many thanks Keeley – that’s very kind of you. I was impressed with the service from your company and have recommended you to our company’s landlady for future purchases, and we will certainly be back. Kind regards, Pete

If you can find a company that sells just the blanket in the right size and standard you could of course keep the casing. Just make sure you clearly mark the 'refill' on the maintenance sticker on the casing. However, new fire blankets are so cheap these days that this is probably not worth the effort.

Hi Dave We have just moved the forum onto a different platform and are hoping for more lively interactions. Once we have identified some valuable contributors we are hoping to be able to hand the reigns over to them to moderate. The Safelincs Team

The Ei140 series uses the same interconnection feature as the the Ei130 series allowing them to be added into an existing Ei130 series system. If you are adding a new alarm to the system simply install the new unit and connect it to both the mains power and the interconnection circuit. If you are replacing an existing Ei130 alarm the old alarm will need to be removed (including the base plate) and replaced entirely by the new Ei140 series unit. More information about Ei140 series at safelincs.co.uk

Sorry, Safelincs does not offer a collection service for old safes. You can still get quite a bit of money for selling second hand safes on ebay, as long as the safes are undamaged. This applies to fire safes in particular

If the existing light is outside of the building, it is not a fire exit sign but an emergency light to provide light in the immediate area in front of the door in case of a power cut. It does not require a sticker. In general (not applicable in this case): you would need three of the four elements you were supplied: 1) A door symbol 2) The little man running towards it 3) A directional sign between man and door pointing to your actual escape door

Hi Thank you for your inquiry, The actually emergency lighting legend in this unit is removable so can be replaced by another legend. The light can also be wall mounted. Kind regards Garry